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HISTORY 



OF 



THE TOWN OF PARIS 



AND THE 



VALLEY OF THE SAUQUOIT; 

IN BLUE OF THE GREAT REHELLION ; MILLS. FURNACES AND FAC 

TORIES; CHURCHES AND schools; FREE MA^ONS' ODD 

\ FELLOWS , GOOD TEMPLARS' AND GRANGER SOCIE- 

TIES ; MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY, SUPERVI- 

SORS, &C. ; INCIDENTS, ACCIDENTS 

AND FIRES ; 

Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 
AN ACCOUNT OF THE CEREMONIES ATTENDING 

THE RE-IMERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 



By henry C. ROGERS. 



not' ^l ""■ ^°Tr' ?^ '^'^' ''"' '" '^^'^^ '''^'' '^'^^P "^y con^mandments; and remove 
not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set."-SoLOMON. 

" Set down naught in malice ; or aught extenuate." 



UTICA, N. Y. : 

WHITE & FLOYD, PRINTERS, CORNER BROAD AND JOHN STREETS. 



i88i. 






.••1^ 



Sir 



The author of this book, Henry C. Rogers, was attacked 
with acute rheumatism the latter part of April, 18S0. The 
-disease went to his heart and he died the 12th of ' May fol- 
lowing. He bore his intense sufferings with remarkable 
patience and fortitude, and in several conversations with his 
mother during his illness, he expressed his belief in the 
Saviour, and his happiness in that belief. 

While he was lying perfectly helpless, with rheumatism, his 
wife, who had been tenderly caring for him, was suddenly 
stricken down by heart disease. They leave two children, 
Harry S. and Louise E., and the proceeds of the sale of this 
book will be devoted to their benefit. The funeral of Mr^ 
Rogers was attended by his Brother Masons, at the residence 
of his father, in Sauquoit, and he sleeps in the Sauquoit Valley 
Cemetery, on the spot where the primitive forest trees were 
.felled by his grandfather, Theodore Gilbert, the pioneer. 



TO HARRIET GILBERT, 

Youngest daughter of Theodore Gilbert, the Valley Pioneer, 
wife of Solomon Rogers, born in the " old red house," 'mid the 
crash and roar of falling forest trees, the mephitic smoke of 
charcoal pit, and the roaring, crackling blaze of brush heap 
and fallow, where in childhood's sunny hours, she gleefully 
sported at " hide and seek" among the stumps of the new- 
cleared lot, now tastefully laid out in well kept plots and 
lawns, tenderly enshrined with flowers or deciduous and over- 
green shrubbery, close-shaved mounds of beautiful green 
dot the hillside, beneath which, one by one gathered home, 
sweetly sleep her once gleesome childhood playmates — now 
the Valley Cemetery. Generations have come and gone ; the 
wild tangled forest steadily yielding to the sturd}' hand of 
toil, gave place to villages, grown up beneath her gaze, with 
clattering mills, busy teeming factories; churches, schools 
and homesteads. Where the ox-cart slowly creaked along, 
the shrieking locomotive, in mighty grandeur, now goes 
thundering by, flanked with a network of wire, flashing in- 
telligence on lightning borne. In the pleasant evening of life, 
old age creeping gently on, not yet resigning the active duties 
so long and well performed, in every walk of life ; in church, 
neighborhood, sickness, death or the home circle, ever gentle, 
faithful, kind and cheery; a true type of the American wife 
and mother — the tenderest and best of mothers — this volume 
is lovingly inscribed, by her affectionate son, 

Henry. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Most of the facts and incidents herewith ])resented, were 
received many years ago from the lips of those old pioneers 
now all gone before. Many valuable facts have been gleaned 
from the files of the Utica Herald and the Observer, access to 
which has been courteously extended. The valuable works of 
predecessors in this tield of historical lo)e — " Annals of 
Oneida County," by Judge Pomroy Jones, " History of Oneida 
County," by Samuel W. Durant, and "Pioneers of Utica," by 
M. M. Bagg, M. D., — have aided materially. Interesting chap- 
ters are contributed by Rev. B. F. Willoughby, Rev. Lansing 
Bailey, Rev. W. Watson, Hon. Lorenzo Rouse and Hon. James 
W. Seaton. The names of those throughout the town who 
have cheerfully furnished inlormation and accorded access to 
family records and documents are legion. If there is any 
meagerness in the sketches of some few that are known to be 
early settlers, or manufacturers, it is owing solely to their 
descendants, in not responding to the request for the necessary 
data. The venerable Di'. L. Bishop, Daniel Blackman, Daniel 
Bacon, Squire Albert Barnett, Squire William Gallup, Squire 
Charles C. Wicks, Solomon Rogers, Julius A. Walkeif^on. 
Chauncey S. Butler, Hon. Eli Aveiy, James Avery, Gen. 
Leroy Gates, Col. Isaac L. Addiuojton, George D. Dunham and 
William Pierce — many of them whose memories run back to 
the early years of the century — the editor of the Sau quoit 
Valley Register, H. N. Gilbert, Fulton, N. Y., and Charles C. 
Curtiss, Hillsdale, Mich., and the officers of the various 
societies, who have contributed valuable statistics, will each 
and all hereby accept my warmest thanks. 

That the reader may find that pleasure in perusing that 
the writer has derived in collecting, and thus preserving the 
stirring incidents and interesting reminiscences in the lives of 
those valiant old pioneers of Paris, is the heartfelt wish of 

AiTCH Sea Ar. 



HISTORY OF TOWN OF PARIS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PRELIMINARY — SOME ERRORS MADE BY THE HISTORIANS 

CORRECTED. 

So-called history is often imperfect in facts and details. In 
writing the history of the Town of Paris, in addition to col- 
lecting the facts, it becomes necessary to correct some of the 
statements of previous historians. 

In Judge Jones' Annals it is recorded, page 297, that 
Benj. Merrills was an early settler in this vicinity. " He was 
a soldier in the old French War, and was one of a detachment 
of five hundred Connecticut troops sent to Havana, on the 
Island of Cuba, in that contest. It is recorded in its history 
that such was the unhealthiness of the climate, and the 
fatality of sickness, that but seventeen of their number lived 
to return, and of this number was Mr, Merrills." As a matter 
of history, Benj. Menills was not engaged in the French War, 
and no record can be found that the United States Govern- 
ment ever .sent any troops to Cuba. He was a soldiei- of the 
Revolution, and one of a compan}' of one hundred from Hart- 
ford, Conn., that was sent to Savannah, Georgia, of whom only 
two survived to return — Benj. Merrills and one other. 

Samuel W. Durant's History of Oneida County records on 
page 505, in regard to Clayville and the Empire Mills: " Mr. 
HoUister built the mill in 1S4-3-44;. In the latter year. Hon. 
Henry Clay visited the ])lace and spoke at a meeting held in 
the factory, the floors having been laid and the balance re- 
maining unfinished." Of course the above errors were the 
fault of the parties who furnished the information to the 
historians. As a matter of history, Heni-y Clay never was 
inside the Empire Mill, and never vi-sited Clayville but once 



10 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PAEIS. 

during his life, the occasion of his visit being five years 
thereafter, on the 10th day of September, 1849. During the 
contest to elect Henry Clay, in ISi-i, a Whig meeting was 
assembled at Paris Furnace on Wednesday, August 7, and 
was addressed briefly by David J. Millard, who was followed 
by Spencer Kellogg, the speaker of the evening. The press 
records that at the conclusion of his address, " Mr. K. per- 
formed the ceremony of naming the village Cla^'ville in the 
happiest manner." Later in the fall, the mass meeting alluded 
to in the Empire Mill was held, and addressed by the " Buck- 
eye Oi-ator of Ohio," a Mr. Kellogg, and also a Mr. Halleck. 
Henry Clay was not there, but at Ashland, from which place 
the same day he wrote his celebrated letter to the Lexington 
(Ky.) Observer and Reporter, so widely published. The 
attempt to change Paris Furnace to Clayville hung fire until 
the spring of 184-9. After the inauguration of Gen. Zachary 
Taylor, Wm. H. Barnett, the last Postmaster of Paris Furnace, 
was removed, and Eason Allen, the first Postmaster of Clay- 
ville, was appointed in March. 1849. In September following, 
the great statesman, Henry Clay, on his way to attend the 
State Fair at Syracuse, stopped over at Utica, Saturday, 
September 8th, the guest of Frederick Hollister, attended 
church on Sunday, and on Monday, the 10th, accompanied by 
leading citizens of Utica, went to Clayville, and, as the guest 
of D. J. Millard, in a happ}^ speech, thanked the people for 
naming the village in his h(Mior. From thence, on his return, 
he went to New Hartford, where he was transferred to the 
carriage of Walcott & Campbell, visiting New York Mills, 
and then returned to Utica — his first and only visit to Utica 
— being five years after the time recorded in the History of 
Oneida County by Duiant. 

Hon. Win. Tracy, in his recent address before the Oneida 
Historical Society, in giving the history of the Methodist 
Church at Rome, and its dithculties in establishing a steeple 
to the church, says that, after submitting the question of 
stee))le or no steeple to the General Conference at Pittsburgh, 
it was decided " that as the lowest section of the steeple 
would serve as a belfry and hold a bell to call people to 
church, that might stand, l:)ut that the ui)per section, not being 



THE FIRST SETTLER IN THE SAUQUOIT VALLEY. 11 

intended for use, but merely for ornament, like other vanities, 
should be abandoned by sober. Christian people. The judg- 
ment was submitted and carried out, audit was said that this 
was the first meeting-house in the land (182G) with a steeple." 
As a matter of fact, the Methodist Church at Bethelville, 
(afterwards East Sauquoit,) built in 1801, in the plain, old- 
fashioned, barn like style, erected a steeple and attached it to 
their church in front, in the year 1816, ten years before the 
steeple to the Rome Church was erected. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FIRST SETTLER IN THE SAUQUOIT VALLEY — A BLACK 
slave's early HOME — HIS FLIGHT FROM THE INDIANS. 

The great Indian trail, from the Mohawk valley west to 
Buftalo, left the valley at a point a few miles below where 
now is Utica, and entering the forest led "over the hill" and 
on west, crossing the Valley of Sagh-da-que-da, (Sauquoit,) 
where now is the village of Sauquoit ; thence over Paris Hill, 
and onward across the Valley of Oriskany, and so on west. 
It was a favorite route of the Indians, by which they avoided 
the swampy ground of the trail at Yah-nun-dah sis, ("around 
the hill,"; now Utica. 

Many of the early settlers of those valleys went in by 
this trail, and, as they in time " cut it out" for the passage of 
their ox teams, it came to be known as the "Old MoA'er 
Road," taking its name from a Dutchman named Moyer, who 
kept a tavern in the Mohawk valley at the point where the 
" trail" left the valley and entered the forest for the West. 
At an early day, and some years previous to the settlement 
of Judge White, in 178-i, at the mouth »;f the Sauquoit ; or 
Abram Van Eps, on the Oriskany, in 1785 ; Moses Foot, at 
Clinton, 1787 ; Judge Sanger, at New Hartford, 1788; or 
Major Royce, at Paris Hill, in 1789, a negro slave, servant 



12 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of an officer of some passing detachment, en route up the 
valley, ran away from his servitude, boldly struck out into the 
forest wilds, taking this trail over the hill, not pausing in his 
flight until he halted in the forest free as the feathered song- 
sters that caroled him a welcome in the beautiful valley of the 
Sauquoit. The Sauquoit Creek and the numerous spring- 
brooks pouring into it from either hill-side, filled to repletion 
with speckled trout, was the favoiite fishing giound of the 
" Six Nations," who from time to time crossed it on the great 
western trail or followed it up from the point where it de- 
bouched into the Mohawk, from which point a noted trail led 
up along its banks, intersecting the great trail at what is now 
Sauquoit village, thence up the creek, diveriiing into two 
trails at Cassville, one leading over the bluff ty the head- 
waters of the Susquehanna (Unadilla there takes its rise) and 
the other following the creek to its source and thence over 
the summit to the headwaters of the Chenango at Skan-a- 
wis, (" long swamp,") now Sangerfield. Our negro pioneer 
selected his future home at a point west of the creek and 
south of the great trail near the great elm — destroyed by 
tempest a year or two since — and not far from the bank of the 
unfailing spring brook that takes its rise on the western hill- 
side, at the famous spring on the ohJ William Babliitt farm, 
(now Mr. Throop's.) At the foot of the little mound — (the old 
burj'ing gi'ound where some of the Paris pioneers silently and 
solemnly sleep) — the I'unaway slave struck the first axe (of 
a settler) in a tree in the great town of VVhitestovvn, after- 
wards Paris. With great industry and persevei'ance he ere 
long completed a substantial and comfortable log cal)in, 
located between the little mound and the present site of ihe 
ruius of the Franklin factory, and then set to woik vigorously 
to clear up the land, of which hn had [)ossesse<l himself Uy 
right of " Squattei- Sovereignty." 

It was 'no uncommon thing in this section, in the early 
days, for persons to clear off the land before |)urchasing it, and 
in the end, if they did not l)uy it, custom require<l that the 
party who did purchase should pay for the " betterments," as 
it was termed. At the end of a year or two, as the fruit of 
well directed labor, his eyes were gladdened by a fine field of 



THE FIRST SETTLER IN THE SAUQUOIT VALLEY. 13 

rustling, growing corn, and the apple seeds that he planted 
(having obtained them by furtive visits to the German flats,) 
were well up in his nursery, giving promise of his future 
fruitful orchard, and together with other crops, prosperity 
seemed insured in the future — a jus<". reward of the early 
Divine command, in obedience to which he had " tilled the 
soil." The Indians that in their rovings traversed these trails, 
although not then on the war-path in open hostility, yet 
viewed the rapid encroachment of the settlers upon and the 
sure destruction of their ancient forest hunting-grounds, with 
a jealousy verging on hatred. But bound by their treaties, 
influenced by the powerful arguments of the Christian mis- 
sionaries, mixed with a wholesome feai- of the " long knives," 
" big Injun" gulped down his chagrin and did not openly 
revolt at the progress of the white man's civilization. But a 
" nigger !" — that was too much — the drop that overflowed the 
bucket. Perhaps the tempting field of corn, just then at a 
period of its promise of future i-ipening — in the roasting ear 
— which toothsome luxury no Indian ever yet was known to 
pass by without helping himself, regardless of ownership — 
fixed their determination. At all events, the blow fell. The 
attack came suddetd}', but the wary black, schooled from his 
exposed and isolated position to be ever on the alert, eluded 
the cunning of the wily savages and made his escajje, but 
the}" confiscated his corn, destroyed his other growing crops, 
and b}' the light of his burning cabin indulged in a grand 
pow wow and impromptu "green-corn dance," making nio-ht 
hideous with their yelling orgies, as only au Indian can. The 
" negi'o" never returned to claim his " betterments." The sav- 
ages made general havoc and ruin of everything, save the 
thickly-sprouting clump of apple sprouts, which they some- 
how overlooked, and thus they grew unmolested, so that by 
the time the })ionaej"s (white) came in they were large enough 
to transplant, and some of the first orchards (Cooley's and 
others in the immediate vicinity) were set from the "Jim 
Crow" nursery, as it was called, the name even of this actual 
first settler being lost ; but the fact of his title to j)ioneership 
outranking White's, Van Eps', Foot's or Royce's in pri- 
ority, is incontrovertible. Parties still in the " land of the 
living" remember well the clump of young apple trees that 



14 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

grew near the spot where the mighty locomotive now goes 
thundering over the dismantled, desecrated hearthstone of the 
Black Pioneer. It seems almost akin to sacrilege to do the 
work of verifying the facts of our eai-ly history so thoroughly 
as to necessitate the upsetting of all these man}' years, proud 
laudation of those who were first to fell the tree, bow the 
might}' heads of the forest giants, subdue the stubborn glebe 
and plant the blossoming orchard ; and it is a positive relief 
to think that as the name of the poor, black runaway-slave 
pioneer is lost and none of his descendants are likely to put 
in a claim, we can go on composedly reading our histories as 
they are wiitten, only, "in the mind," inserting the word 
" white" before the words pioneer or first settler, wherever 
they occur. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TOWN OF PARIS — ^THE GREAT 
WATER-SHED OF THE STATE. 

Traveling south from Utica some twelve miles up the beau- 
tiful valley of the Sauquoit, and emei'ging from the deep cut 
through which the i-ailroad passes the blufi" at the junction, 
the tourist finds himself in an elevated j)lateau of surpassing 
loveliness, some thousand feet above the le\ el of the sea. A 
little to the west reposes the quiet little village of Cassville, 
and a short distance to the east the limestone ridge of Bab- 
cock Hill, trom out of whose solid bosom, in plain view, leaps 
a full grown rivulet, the birthplace of the Susquehanna River, 
being its extreme northern source — on the maps the head of 
the Unadilla — flowing gently to the south, and reaching the 
sea at Chesapeake Bay, some 300 miles away, at an average 
fall from our standing point to tide-water of only three or 
four feet to the mile. 

Gushing from the gravel bank at our very feet, and tumb- 
ling tumultuously down through the "cut" to the north, and 



THE GREAT WATER-SHED OF THE STATE. 15 

through the Sauquoit to the Mohawk, a little brook accom- 
pli8hes nearly the whole of this 1,000 feet plunge to sea-level, 
in about fifteen miles. Traveling westwaid through the 
State, along this blutf or plateau — nowhere more than about 
1,000 feet elevation — this scene continually repeats itself; the 
north- flowing streams making this plunge to the great 
"sixty-nine mile level" of the Erie Canal, in a distance of 
say fifteen miles. Reaching a point near Syracuse, this di- 
viding ridge bears away to the southwest, the immerous little 
lakes to the north of it pouring their wateis through the 
Seneca and Oswego Rivers to Lake Ontario, while on the 
southerly slope of this ridge we have in succession passed the 
sources of the Susquehanna, Uuadilla, Otselic, Chemung, and 
finally, in Pennsylvania, the west branch of the Susquehanna 
Rivers, all gently flowing to the south or southeast, and, 
uniting in their course to the Atlantic, go to make up the 
noble Susquehanna. In the extreme southwest of the State, 
the short mountain streams plunge northwesterly into Lake 
Erie, and thence hundieds of miles away, through Ontario and 
the St. Lawrence River, wend their way to the ocean ; while 
the little southern-flowing rivulets wander away into the 
Alleghany, thence through the Ohio and Mississippi to the 
Gulf of Mexico, thousands of miles away. Than on this 
great water-shed of the Susquehanna, with its southern ex- 
posure — formerly the favorite hunting grounds of the most 
powerful tribes of the aboriginal "Six Nations" — the sun ris- 
ing to-day in its course illuminates no more fertile and salu- 
brious, and, all things considered, more perfect home for man, 
of like extensive area, on God's earth. Every fruit, nut, 
vine, root, and cereal of the Temperate Zone is here produced 
in lavish abundance. Though under cultivation for nearly 
one hundred years, this soil refuses not her accustomed yield. 
No drouth or famine, plague, pestilence or malarious scourge, 
cyclone or devastating storms ever laid waste this favored 
region ; but peace and plenty have here ever rewarded the 
earnest toil of the intelligent husbandman. Beautiful vil- 
lages, sheltered in her many valleys, with their varied manu- 
factures, churches and schools, happy homesteads dotting each 
spring-watered hillside, grazing cattle, selected from the 
choicest herds of the world, orchards and sheltering woods^ 



16 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

with dancing rivulets as yet preserved, stamp this whole fair 
region a wonderful panorama of rural beauty, most fit wherein 
to develop the highest type of manhood. The former savage 
occupants of this fair region have passed away, and a few 
relics, curiously wrought flint arrow heads and stone imple- 
ments, brought to light by the plow, to find their way into the 
cabinet of the antiquarian, with the quaint names they 
affixed to the rivers, lakes and creeks, alone tell the tale that 
they puce existed here. 

The dusky, half-naked hunter, creeping stealthily through 
the dark forest, with softened tread of moccasined feet, was 
all unconscious that he was treading over hundreds of massive 
marine engines, with their immense proportions, capable of 
propelling great ships, with their thousands of tons of freight, 
and whole colonies of the human raco, through the ocean 
from zone to zone, to every land and clime ; eighty thousand 
miles of railroad — three times the span of the earth — now 
o-ridironiui^ these United States, with thousands of locomo- 
tives thereon, thundering and screeching from ocean to ocean ; 
clattering looms and millions of humming spindles ; ponder- 
ous columbiads ; whole cities of iron fronted buildings ; bridges 
spanning wide rivers at dizzy heights ; millions of various 
implements of mechanics and husbandry- — all this and more, 
buried beneath his feet — simply iron and coal. This painted 
" hair lifting" barbarian has been " lifted " out of the path of 
civilization, and all this wealth and wondrous mechanism 
" lifted " into existence, from out the bowels of the earth, 
within the memory of men yet moving among us. 

To preserve, and transmit to succeeding generations, these 
happy homes, is the solemn, imperative duty of their presen t 
favored occupants. To insure this, the forests must be pre- 
served, as their further depletion perils the very existence of 
this vast area of fertility. A country denuded of its forest 
growth, and the mountain streams drying up, the rivers 
dwindle away and a barren waste is the certain, inevitable 
result of such improvidence. The yearly growth of the pres- 
ent forest area will safely furnish the necessary building and 
fencing material, but in no event should more be cut for fuel. 
Coal is, then, the only .solution for this problem, and, fortu- 



THE GREAT WATER-SHED OF THE STATE. 17 

nately, the irreat river that drains this whole region, as it 
reaches the Wyoming valley, and thence towards the sea, 
flows over vast deposits of this indispensable substitute for 
wood. A flowing river with slow current would suggest, to 
the skillful engineer, a system of " slack-water" navigation, to 
cheaply place this much needed coal at the firesides of those 
consumers " up the river." Such was the idea of the projec- 
tors of the Chenango Canal, who foresaw this, our present 
necessity, and builded for us well, as far as they went, and to 
fully secure to this generation the benefit of their wise fore- 
thouo-ht, it only remains for us to complete what the}^ began, 
and build that canal through to the coal mines. 

On the northern boundary of this region — and equally dis- 
tant from the coal deposits on the southern boundary — are 
situated two cities at either extremity of the long Erie Canal 
level : Utica, with its great iron beds, and Syracuse, with her 
immense salt deposits. To interchange economically these 
three heav}' and important staples, coal, iron, salt, a water 
communication is absolutely essential. To perfect this de- 
sired result a link of a few miles below Binghamton ramains 
unfinished. Nature and the skill of man have already com- 
bined to render this great water-way easily attainable. Nest- 
lino- among the hills of Madison, at the source of the Che- 
nango River, are numerous capacious reservoirs and lakes, 
furnishing a never-failing suj^ply of water to float this great 
commerce on the summit; and the abundance of water and 
the easy grade en route along the Chenango and Susquehanna 
Rivers, render this so necessary attainment of a water-way 
to the coal mines, not only practicable, but almost ready-made 
to our hands. Can we aftord to throw away such opportuni- 
ties of future economy, in which the prosperity and happiness 

the existence even — of this whole region, is so vitally 

interested ? The able and patriotic statesmen who planned 
so well for us are no more. They were wont to point with a 
State pride to our " internal improvements" — the canals— as 
the foundation of our pre-eminence as a commercial State, 
and they were right. Albany, Troy and Buffalo, Syracuse 
and Oswego, Utica and Binghamton, Elmir^and Rochester, 
are the cities of importance in the State, and every one of 
B 



18 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

therri owe theii- existence and prosperity to canals at whose 
termination the}^ are located. New York city, the unrivaled 
metropolis of this gjreat country, directly owes such promi- 
nence to the same cause iu conjunction with the Hudson 
River and the great lakes. Of bituminous coal lands there 
are in America, 200,000 square miles, and 8,000 square miles 
in Great Britain. In the United States there are only 450 
squai'e miles of anthracite coal, of which the Philadelphia & 
Reading Company own one-third, the balance being held by 
private individuals and the other coal companies. 

The so-called inexhaustible coal measures of Pennsylvania 
are being steadily and fast depleted in this present gene- 
ration. 

Man}' in this vicinity will remember Mr. Archibald, the 
distinguished engineer, who, after assisting in the construc- 
tion of the Erie Canal, turned his attention to the develop- 
ment of coal, and piojected the system of " gravity rail- 
roads," with stationary engines, to transport the coal from the 
Lackawanna valley over the mountain to the terminus of the 
Delaware & Hudson Canal, thence by which to leach tide- 
water. 

His combined system of gravity roads and canal attests his 
wisdoju and skill, and has proved the most economical of any 
plan 3'et devised to move coal, and he lived long enough to 
see the mines, at the northern part of the valley, where oper- 
ations were first commenced, exhausted of coal, and the great 
mining companies pushing their operations further down the 
valley to new fields. 

When those fields are exhausted, we must look to the West 
for cheap coal, for underlying the great States of Missouri, 
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, is embedded the largest 
area of coal yet discovered, and although soft-bituminous of 
inferior quality, it may yet serve our successors in a gi-eat 
need. 

This great belt of coal extends east and nearly to the sea- 
board, gradually improving in quality iu its progress east, 
and changing successively at each stage from dirty, imperfect 
bituminous, to good gas coal ; semi-bituminous ; Sullivan 
county; Lackawanna valley — tolerable anthracite; and cul- 



THE GREAT WATER-SHED OF THE STATE. 10 

Miinatiiio- lastly in Lehigh valley coal, the best and purest 
anthracite yet discovered. Further east near the sea-boaixl it 
" crops out" as graphite or ])lunihago. 

The coals underneath Ohio and ])ortions of Kentucky are 
rich in bitumen and ))etr()leuui, and furnish us our best gas 
coals. At Bi-eckenridge, Ky., some years since, and |)revi(jus 
to the great Rebellion, the c<»al in that regi(Mj was distilled, 
])r()ducing a coal od for lubricating j)urposes, and similar tu 
our afterwards discovered i)etroleum. When we reach the 
western ])art of Pennsylvania, the coal proves still richer in 
petroleum, and just at this point happened one of the most 
impoitant discoveries of which the human fainily has any 
i-ecord. At a period when the whale fisheries had proved in- 
adequate to furnish us with light and lul)rication, and res(jrt 
was had to the fatty pine of the South, substituting for us 
camphene, burning-fluid, etc., and when the gory hand of war 
laid an embargo on this supply, then indeed was the North a 
place of daikness; but garnered up in the bowels of the 
earth, accumulating since the time when "the stars sang to- 
gether," was a reservoir awating this our dire necessity. 

That somebody at this critical period chanced to " strike 
oil," even to the casual observer seemed remarkable, but do 
not we rather in this recognize the superintending hand of 
Him who doeth all things, well; an echo of that Divine com- 
mand reverberating along down through time from the re- 
motest period of which we have a history, the grandest seven 
words in any tongue spoken of men — " Let there be Light, 
and Light was," and that His will guided the iortunate drill 
that pierced this pent-up reservoir of light, bursting foi'th to 
illuminate our homes and work-shops, and furnish at hand 
an article of export ranking next in importance to cotton and 
the cereals, and which we send to every civilized clime ? 

The latent power which f )rces the oil to the surface is sul- 
phureted hydrogen gas, C(jntined in the rock strata and coal 
through which the oil percolates. 

This gas is always found with this grade of coal, but it by 
no means follows that the presence of this gas is a sure indi- 
cation that coal or oil can there be found, as it exists with the 
numerous sulphur spas throughout the country, and in many 



20 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

marshy localities, is very offensive to smell, will blacken 
silver and some other metals, and is in lai'ge volumes fatal to 
life. 

In many parts of the country the piesence of this gas has 
led adventurous capitalists to "bore for oil" in regions far 
remote from the great coal belt and oil basin, and where it is 
geographically impossible to find either coal or oil. 

With anthiacite coal is found carbureted hydrogen gas^ 
fatally known as "tire damp;" when mixed with eight or ten 
volumes of air it explodes with terrific violence, forming 
highly expanded steam and carbonic acid gas, or "choke- 
damj)," and the miner that escapes the explosion of the former 
is frequently smothered with the latter. 

Traveling further east along the coal belt in Pennsylvania, 
we ^nd the Morris Run and Fall Brook coals, which are semi- 
bituminous — i. e., not quite anthracite, nor yet bituminous, 
but having charactistics of both. It is a valuable coal for 
the ])ur]jose of generating steam for locomotives, for which it 
is being genei'ally used, to the exclusion of wood, as it ignites 
readily, blazes fiercely, and makes steam rapidly. 

Its adoption by our railroads proves timely in another 
respect, as their enormous consumption of wood for fuel and 
ties threatened the extinction of our forests, which scientists 
assure us would cnange the atmospheric conditions of our 
continent, dry up our streams, and render this fertile laud of 
ouis a howling desert. 

This may be true; if so, it is fortunate that the evil is 
somewhat mitigated in the use of this coal. 

It is noticeable that streams in our ii^mediate vicinity are 
much reduced in volume of late years, and since the cutting 
off of the forests along the banks and at their source. 

The Sauquoit Creek, once noted throughout the State as 
one of the best water-powers therein, has diminished in vol- 
ume fully one-half within the memoiy of residents there who 
are yet young enough to read this without spectacles, and 
their teeming mills and factories have been forced to curtail 
their })roduction to that extent, or add the steam engine. 

There are miles enough of railroads in the United States, 
including double ti-acks, turnouts, kc, to extend ukjic than 



TOWN OF PARIS AS FIRST FoHMP:D. 21 

three times aroun'l the o'loUt^, aiil ati every sixteen inches of 
this vast mileage a raihoad tie is imbedded. 

A person starting from New York, or an}- of <»nr seaboard 
cities, could walk on ties from ocean to ocean ainl fiom Maine 
to farthest Texas, without once |)ntting foot to ground, and to 
traverse all our vast uetvvoik of roads in this manner would 
consume, using ordinary woi'king hours, many years, and all 
these ties must be renewed every seven ^-ears. They ai-e cut 
from small trees, the size in diameter of the tie, that should 
be growing to suppl}' the place of the old and failing trees of 
our forests, and the aggregate acres denuded of trees for this 
purpose is truly a])palling and sufficient to devastate some of 
the kingdoms of Europe, and lay waste every living tree 
within their borders, and, at no distant ])eriod, iron suitably 
constructed with regard to elasticity must take the place of 
wood for ties. 



CHAPTER IV. 

TOWN OF PARIS AS FIRST FORMED FROM WHITESTOWX. 

The town was named in honor of Colonel Isaac Paris, of 
Fort Plain, Montgomery County, N. Y. The first settlers at 
Clinton, (then in the town of Whitestown,) in 1788, did not 
raise sufficient crops during the year to sustain themselves 
and the new-comers in 1789, and famine, in all its horrors, 
stared them in the face, the stock of wheat flour and the 
old ciop of ])otatoes being entirely exhausted, and it^ this 
emergency a committee went to Fort Plain to obtain supplies, 
if possible. Isaac Paris, a meichant and miller of that place, 
consented to supply them on the only terms that they were 
able to offer. They, not having either gold or silver, ))ro- 
l)osed to pay him at some future time in ginseng, which 
abounded in the fores^, the roots of which were then an arti- 
cle of export to China, where ginseng was supposed tO be an 
antidote to the plague. Mr. Paris accordingly loaded a flat- 



22 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

boat with flour and meal, and sent it up the Mohawk, to the 
mouth of the Oiiskany Creek, where the precious cargo was 
transferred to log canoes made by the settlers, who, by means 
ol paddles, ropes and setting- poles, worked it up the creek as 
far as the present Clinton factory, where it was unloaded, 
and thence transported in carts to the little settlement. Its 
arrival was the occasion of great joy. A recent notice of the 
funeral of Irving Paiis, which was held in St. Mark's Church, 
New York, on Sunday, November 2, 1879, reads: "The de- 
ceased was one of the few remaining nephews of Washington 
living, and was a highly respected member of the bar. His 
father, Daniel Paris, was a lawyer of sonie distinction in his 
day having represented Montgomery County in the State 
Senate, and filled other offices of importance. Isaac Paris, 
whose name is perpetuated by a township, was grandfather 
of the deceased. Daniel Paiis married Catherine Irving, 
(sister of the author,) and both are now among the dead. At 
the funeral of Daniel Paris, at St. Mark's, twenty-five yeais 
ago. there were Washington Irving and others of the old- 
fashioned gentry — all of whom are now passed away. 
Among those present on the recent funeral occasion was the 
venerable Judge Ulshofter, father-in-law of the deceased, who 
is now eighty-three. Thirty years ago he was a pi'ominent 
member of the judiciary, but now he lingers in the com- 
munity as a memorial of the past. What an old man to bear 
a part as a mourner at a funeral !" 

April 10th, 1792, the town of Whitestown was divided, and 
the town of Paris formed as follows : Beginning at Stillman's 
bridge, on Oriskany Creek ; thence southeasterly to the house 
of James Fairwell, on lot 80 in the seventh division of Cox's 
Patent; thence southerly in a direct line until it meets the 
New Hartford road, where it crosses a creek a few rods west 
from the house of Samuel Wells; thence southerly in aline 
to the southwestern corner of lot No. 7 in the eleventh divis- 
ion of Cox's Patent ; thence due east to the line of German 
Flats; thence southerly along said line to Tioga County; 
thence westerly along the line of Tioga Count}^ to the west- 
ern line of the Twenty Townships; thence northerl}' to the 
line of Oneida Reservation ; thence along the last line to the 



TOWN OF PAKIS AS FIRST FORMED. 23 

line of Westmoreland ; thence alon^- the last line to the place 
of beginning. This great township, embracing what is now 
several counties, was named b}' the inhabitants Paris, as a 
tribute to their generous benefactor of " the year of scarcity," 
Isaac Pai'is. The first town-meeting, April 2d, 1793, was 
held at the house of Captain Moses Foot, at Clinton, at which 
the following officers were chosen : Supervisor, David Ostrom ; 
Town Clerk, Henry McNeil ; Assessors, Joshua Holiburt, Joel 
Bristol, Daniel Chapman, Benjamin Barnes, Ithamar Coe, 
Joseph Farwell, William Babbitt; Commissioners of Roads, 
Amos Kellogg, Simeon Coe, Stephen Barrett; Poormasters, 
Timothy Tuttle, Levi Sherman ; Constables, Jesse Curtiss, 
Amos Dutton, Nathan Marsh ; Fence- Viewers, Barnabas 
Pond, Joseph Plumb, Borden Wilbur, Joshua Preston ; 
Poundraaster, Amos Kellogg. 

In 1794, Sangerfield, Oneida County, Shprbui'ne, Chenango 
County, and Brookfield, Hamilton and a part of Cazenovia, 
Madison County, were taken from Paris. At this period, 
the territoiy thus far mentioned was in Herkimer County. 
March loth, 1798, by act of the Legislature, Herkimer 
County was divided, and the Counties of Chenango and 
Oneida were formed, Paris being witliin the limits of the 
new-made County of Oneida. In 18.27, Kirkland (including 
Marshall) was taken off, but in 1839 a small portion of Kirk- 
land was reannexed to Paris on the northwest part of the 
town. 

The present town of Paris, State of New York, County of 
Oneida, is situated in the southeast part of the county, in 
latitude 42 deg. 54 min. north, longitude 1 deg. 38 min. east 
from Washington, and is bounded on the north by the towns 
of New Hartfoi'd and Kirkland ; on the south, by Bridge- 
water and Marshall ; on the east, by Litchfield, Herkimer 
County, and on the west, by Mar.shall and Kirkland. Its 
surface is a hilly upland, broken by the valley of Sauquoit 
Creek. The hills bordering this valley approach the moun- 
tainous; Paris Hill rising to a hight of 840 feet above Sau- 
quoit; Tassel Hill, in the southwest portion of the town, 
named after a Dutchman named Van Tassel, who once lived 
there, being the highest point of land in the county, and rises 



24 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

2,100 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,680 feet abcve 
Utica. Paris has an area of 19,310 acres, the soil beiuo a 
sandy, calcareous loam. It has a population of 3,593. There 
are four post-villages: Paris, Cassville, Clayville and Sau- 
quoit— Clayville having a population of 944, and Sauquoit 
459. Holman City, a small village in the southeast part of 
the town, has a population of 75. The western portion of 
the town is included in Cox's Patent, and the eastern portion 
(rather more than one-half) in the Free-Mason's or Bayard's 
Patent, the line dividing the Patents running through the 
town from north to south, somewhat west of the center. 
Limestone abounds in the hills on both sides of the valley, 
which is quarried for building stone and for lime burning. 
Most of the ravines, on each side of the creek, display the 
red slaty formation of the Clinton group. In the Holman 
City gorge, and also in the Dexter brook, near Clayville, is 
found a limy, porous formation, called " horsebone." In the 
southern part of We.-st Sauquoit is found the Burning Spring, 
highly charged with sulphureted hydrogen gas, which ignites 
and burns readily. The wateis of this spring are similar in 
taste and give about the same analysis as the Richfield 
Spring. Indications in the hills favor the conclusion that 
the Sauquoit valley was once a lake. At Coe's hill, in the 
Todd gravel bank, some 400 feet above the creek, the layers 
of 2-ravel in strata, intermixed with shells, have a striking 
appearance of the shore of a lake. The southern part of the 
town is one of the great water-sheds of the continent — rivu- 
lets contiguous to each other llowing north into the Mo- 
hawk, and thence through the Hudson into the ocean, and 
others flowing south through the TTnadilla and Susquehanna to 
the ocean at Chesapeake Bay. The Sauquoit Creek takes its 
rise at the base of Tassel Hill, flows to the southeast a distanec 
of three miles to Cassville, where it makes a sharp bend to the 
north, flowing through the central part of the town, thence 
through New Hartford and Whitestow'n to the Mohawk, its 
entire length being seventeen miles, falling in the distance 
1,014 feet, or an average of 60 feet to the mile, constituting 
one of the most noted water powers in the State for manu- 
facturing ](urposes. The first settler in the town was Major 



AREA, POPULATION, PRODUCTS. 25 

Atnaziah Royce, who located near Paris Hill, in the spring of 
1789, on the old Pioneer vond leading from Sauquoit, and in- 
tersecting the Oxford turn))ike, a little north of Paris Hill. 
The next settlers were John and Sylvester Butler and Asa 
Shepard, in December, 1780, who also located on the old Pio- 
neer road, about one-half mile west of Sauquoit, up the hill 
side. The first settler in the valley was Phineas Kellogg, in 
December, 1789, about one-half mile north of West Sauquoit. 
The next settler in the valley was Theodore Gilbert, with his 
family, in the spring of 1790, at the Burning Spring, at West 
Sauquoit. The fiist settler on the " old Moyer road," between 
Sauquoit and Paris Hill, was William Babbitt, with his fam- 
ily, on what is now the Throop farm, in 1790. The first set- 
tler at East Sauquoit was Lieutenant Spencer Briggs, in the 
spring of 1791. The.fii'st settler on the old Moyei- road, east 
of Sauquoit, was Simeon Coe, in the spring of 1791. Captain 
Abner Bacon settled at West Sauquoit in the spring of 1791. 
His son, Kendall Bacon, was born July 5, 1791 — the first 
male child b(jrn in Sauquoit. Molly Gilbert, daughter of 
Theodore Gilbert, born August 26, 1791, was the first female 
child born in Sauquoit. 



CHAPTER V. 

AREA — POPULATION AND PRODUCTS MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY — 

SUPERVISORS — VOTES FOR GOVERNOR. 

Population :—im{) A ,7 2\ ; 1810, .i,-tl8 ; 1820,6,707; 1830, 
2,765. The town of Kirkland (including Marhall) was formed 
from Paris in 1827. 1840, 2,8-14; 1845, 3,097; 1850, 4,283; 
1860, 3,762; 1865, 3,595; 1870, 3,575; viz: Native born, 
2,835; foreign, 740 ; colored, 4. Cassville— population-, 152; 
native born, 140; foreign, 12. Clayville — |.oi)ulation, 944; 
native born, 667 ; foreign, 277. Holman City — population, 
75; native born, 73 ; colored, 2. Sauquoit — population, 459 ; 



26 HISTORY OF THE TOW^N OF PARIS. 

native born, 397 ; foreign, 62. 1875 — population. 3,593; 
native born, 2,899; ioreign, 694;; colored, 6; aliens, 115. 
Males of voting age, 983 ; native born, 656 ; naturalized, 239; 
aliens of voting age, 88 ; voters 895; subject to military 
duty, 636, (between 18 and 45 years old ;) of school age, 
males, 486 ; females, 508 ; owners of land, 421 ; cannot read 
or write, 72. 1874 — Area, 19,310 acres; improved, 16,812 ; 
wood-land, 1,969 ; other than wood land, 429. Value of 
farms, $1,528,170; dwellings, $636,425; farm buildings, 
$198,770. Value of stock, $193,326 ; tools and implements, 
$63,320 ; produce sold, $199,774 ; area plowed, 3,742 ; pastured, 
7,328; mown, 5,242 acres; hay, 7,875 tons; grass seed, 86 
bushels; barley, 393 acres, 10,679 bushels; buckwheat, 45 
acres, 870 bushels ; corn, 657 acres, 24,892 bushels ; oats, 
1,346 acres, 49,628 bushels; spring wheat, 52 acres, 665 bush- 
els; winter wheat, 101 acres, 2,609 bushels; corn fodder, 89 
acres ; beans, 16 acres, 180 bushels ; peas, 24 acres, 433 bush- 
els ; hops, 192 acres, 116,467 lbs.; potatoes, 583 acres, 72,081 
bushels; apples, 22,667 trees, 21,597 bushels, 922 bbls. of 
cider; maple sugar, 275 lbs., 412 gallons syrup; honey, 630 
lbs. ; horses, 664 ; colts, 35 ; mules 1 ; poultry owned, $3,815 ; 
sold, $2,311; eggs, $3,501; cattle, 166; yearlings, 276; calves, 
439 ; bulls, 181 ; oxen and steers, 62; slaughtered, 128; cows, 
2,108; cows for factory, 1,020; butter made in family, 155,- 
342 lbs.; cheese made in family, 4,375 lbs.; milk sold, 6,247 
gallons. Sheep, wool shorn, 5(jl ; vyeight, 2,280 pounds. 
Lumbs, 396; slaugh'i.ered, 65; killeil by dogs, 14. Swine, 
457 ; pigs, 379 ; slaughtered, 636 ; pork, 167,239 Ib.s. Popu- 
lation, 3,593; familieH,779; houses, 749 ; persons to a family, 
4.61 ; to a htjuse, 4.80. 

VOTES FOR GOVERNOR. 

ISOL — *George Clinton, 47; Stephen Van Rensselaer, 612'. 
1804 — ""Morgan Lewis, 128; Aaron Burr, 403. 
1807 — *Daniel D. Toini)kins, 143; Morgan Lewis, 412. 
1810— ^Daniel 1). Tompkins, 187 ; Jonas Piatt, 465. 
1813 — "'Daniel D. Tompkins, 158; Stephen Van Rensselaer, 
500. 
*Ek'cted. 



Votes for governor. 27 

1810— *Dauiel D. Tompkins, 180; Rufus King, 433. 
1817— *D«Witt Clinton, 340; Scattering, 8. 
1820— Daniel D. Tompkins, 129; *DeWitt Clinton, 430. 
1821 — For Constitutional Convention, 272; Against, 409. 
1822 — Fui' Constitutional Convention, 252 ; Against, 209. 
1822— * Joseph C. Yates, 021 ; Scattering, 14. ^ 
1824— Samuel Young, 287; *DeWitt Clinton, 704. 
1820— William B. Rochester, 233; *DeWitt Clinton, 511. 
1828 — "Martin Van Buren, 105 ; Smith Thompson, 319. 
1830— Enos T. Thioop, 205 ; Francis Granger, 201. 
1832— *Williani L. Marcy, 214; Francis Granger, 317. 
1834— *William L. Marcy, 219 ; William H. Seward, 397. 
1830— * William L. Marcy, l40 ; Jesse Buel, 204. 
1838— *William L. Mai-cy, 237 ; William H. Seward, 197. 
1840— William C. Bouck, 244 ; *William H. Seward, 315. 
1842— *William C. Bouck, 225 ; Luther Bradish, 229. 
1844— *Silas Wright, 204; Millard Fillmore, 310; Alvan 

Stewart, 00. 
1840— Silas Wright, 228 ; *John Young, 272. 
1848— Reuben H. Walworth, 112; *Hamiltou Fish, 299; 

John A. Dix, 241. 
1850 — Horatio Seymour, 272 ; *Washington Hunt, 385. 
1852— *H(>ratio Seymour, 209; Washington Hunt, 325; 

M. Tompkins, 95. 
1854— Horatio Seymour, 249 ; *Myron H. Clark, 330 ; G. C. 

Bronson, 28. 
1850 — Amasa J. Pai kei-, 155 ; *John A. King, 503 ; Erastus 

Brooks, 43. 
1858— Amasa J. Parker, 120; *E. D. Morgan, 409 ; L. Bur- 

I'ows, 14 ; Gerrit Smith, I. 
1800— William Kelly, 200; *E. D. Morgan, 515; J.T.Brady, 

1 ; William Goodell, 1. 
1802 — *Horatio Seymour, 248; Jame^ S. Wadsworth, 482. 
1804— Horatio Seymour, 280 ; *R. E. Fenton, 530. 
1800— *John T. Hottman, 290; R. E. Fenton. 557. 
1808- *John T. Hoffman, 318; John A. Griswold, 515. 
1870— *John T. Hoffman, 294; Stewart L. Woodford, 478. 
1872 — Fiancis Kernan, 285; *John A. Dix, 479. 

*Electe(i. 



28 HISTORY OF THE TOWX OF PARIS. 

1874— *Sainuel J. Tilden, 28-t ; John A. Dix, 407. 
1876 — *Lucius Ro^bin.son, 359 ; E. D. Morgan, 485. 
1879— Lucius Robinson, 358; *A. B. Cornell, 399; John 
Kelly, 7 ; Harris Lewis, 5 ; Rev. J. W. Mears, 13. 

First Governors, (not voted f(M- in town of Paris) 1777, 
George Clinton ; 1795, John Jay. 

MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY FROM PARIS. 

1798 — Henry McNiel. David Ostrom. 

1799,1800, 1801, 1803— David Ostiom. 

1805 — Thomas Hart. 

1806— Uri Doolittle. 

1808, 1809— David Cstrom. 

1810— Henry McNiel. 

1813— Henry McNiel. 

1815 — Jesse Curtiss. 

1816 — Martin Hawley. 

1819— Henry McNiel. 

1822— Uri Doolittle. 

1827 — Gardiner Avery. 

1835 — William Knight: (Official Canvass) 4,746 votes, 
William Knight, 1 ; Billy Knight, 1 ; Captain 
Knight, 1 ; Bill Knight, 1 ; (scattering,) Uncle Joe, 
1; Eliza Bowen, 1 ; Mrs. Alvan Stewart, 1; John 
Mott's dog, l;"Peri,sh Credit," 1; Misses Noah 
Pi'opper, 1 ; Miss Braymans, 1 ; Old Stephens, 1 ; 
Delia Williams, 1 ; " Anti Bank," 4 ; " No Bank," 1 ; 
Little Joi.ny Stryker, 1; Ben Peck, 1 ; Mrs. Phillips, 
1 ; Nel Tucker, 2 ; Andrew Jack, 2 ; Martin Van 
Buren, 2; William L. Marcy, 1; Bill Peckham, 1: 
The ladies of the Utica mob, (d'ui>! First Judge, 1. 

1843— Justus Childs. 

1851— Chauncy S. Butler. 

1854 — Levi Blakeslee. 

1868— Eli Avery. 

1871— Martin L. Hungerford. 

1876 — James Corbetr. 

*Elected. 



SUPERVISORS. 29. 

1794 — David Ostroni. 
1795 — George W. Kiikland. 
1796-97 — Jesse Cuitiss. 
1798— Thomas Hart. 
1799-1805— Jesse Curtiss. 
1800-7 — Isaac Miller. 
1808-17— Jesse Curtiss. 
1818 — Ebenezer Griffin. 
1819— Henry McNiel. 
1820-23— Jesse Curtiss. 

1824-27 — Othuiel Williams. Tlie act dividiiijo; the town and 
^ creating Kirkland was pas.sed April 18, 1827, 

and a second election was held for Paris, at 
which Henry McNiel was chosen Supt^rvisor 
and re-elected in 1828. 
1829— Jared P. Todd. 
" 1830— Henry McNiel. 
1831 — Theo[)hilus Steele. 
1832 — Jeremiah Knight. 
J833-3-fc— Jared P. Todd. 
1835-37 — Constant H. Wicks. 
1838 — Jeremiah Knight. 
1839-43— Naaman W. Moore. 
1844— George M. Brownell. 
1845-49— David J, Millard. 
1850-51— Sterling A. Millard. 
1852-53— William S. Baillett. 
1854-55 — Eli Avery. 
1856— William Gallup. 
1857 — Justus Childs. 
1858-59— Barzilla Budlong. 
1860-62 — Harvey Head. 
1863-64 — Frederick S. Savage. 
1865 — D. J. Millard, who resigned on account of ill-health — = 

Harvey Head appointed to the vacancy. 
1866— Eli Avery. 
1867 — Eli C. Green, resigned, and Samuel B. Rhodes, at a 

special meeting, was elected to the vacancy. 
1868-70— Harvey Head. 



80 HISTORY OF THE TOWX OF PARIS. 

1871-72— Martin L. Hunoerford. 
1873-75 — Harvey Head. 
.187G-77— William F. Mould. 
1878— Harvey Head. 
1879-80— A. J. Rhodes. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PARIS HILL. (p. 0., PARIS.) 

Paris Hill, called by the Indians Ga-nun-do-glee, signifying- 
hills shru7ik together, was the first settlement in the town of 
Paris, Major Amaziah Royce being the pioneer and first set- 
tler in the town, on the farm now owned and occupied by 
Colonel Isaac L. Addington, northeast of the village, on the 
"old Pioneer road." The village is 1,C60 feet above the sea- 
level, and 1,240 feet above Utica. 

In the si)ring of 1791, Major Royce, a hero of the Revolu- 
tion, with axe on his shoulder and knapsack on his back, 
bidding adieu to his wife, (Mary Wright,) took his line of 
march from Shaftsbury, Vt., for the wilderness of Central 
New Yoi'k. In due time, reaching New Hartford, he pushed 
on up the hill, alone, in the wilderness, and selected his future 
home near what is now Paris Hill. A few rods east of the 
present residence of Colonel Addington, beside the little 
spring, he erected his log-cabin, and, single-handed, com- 
menced his battle with the forest, and with his gleaming axe 
felling the mighty trees of the primeval growth, to which, 
when felled, he applied the torch, burning them up to clear 
the land, thus making ready to put in his orojis for the com- 
ing season. During the summer, a Mr. Babcock came in, 
(about one-half mile west, on the Abram Bartlett farm, after- 
wards,) and commenced clearing off the land, neither being 
aware of the other's proximity. One day, the wind blowing 
favorably from the east, Mr. Babcock, pausing in his work, 



PARIS HILL. 31 

■distinctly heard the steady, repeated strokes of an axe, borne 
on the wings of the wind. He immediately started out, with 
axe over his shoulder, guiding his footsteps by the increasing 
sound, to ascertain who his unknown neighbor might be. In 
due time ari-iving, he found the sturdy Major hard at work> 
who extended a cordial, hearty welcome, glad in the compan- 
ionship of a new found neighbor. They at once repaired to 
the cabin, where, in eager conversation and discussino- such 
hospitality as the Major could tender his guest, the moments 
sped unheeded away, and to the surprise of both, the dark- 
ening shades of the forest night settling down, abruptly 
terminated their visit, and Mr. Babcock started through the 
woods for his cabin. On the way, and when near the 
" Dresser pond," in clambering over the trunk of a large 
fallen tree, he came face to face with a huge she-bear, with 
two cubs, who at once showed fight, when Mr. Babcock 
hastil}^ dropping his axe, nimbi}' climbed a tree. Although 
he was for the time safe, having, with a frontiersman's tact, 
selected a tree too small for a bear to grasp and climb, still, 
alone in the woods, night fast approaching, and " treed " b}' a 
she-bear with cubs, who persisted in keeping guard with 
angry growls at the foot, was not altogether a pleasant situa- 
tion, and he did the only thing to do in the emergency — 
shouted at the top of his voice for Major Royce, whose atten- 
tion was at length attracted by the continued hallooino-. 
Arming himself and lighting a torch, he hastil}^ set out, and 
following the direction of the shouts, before long reached the 
spot, the bear retreating into the forest at the ap])roach of 
the flaming torch. At early dawn the next day, they to- 
gether set out, properly armed, to hunt the bear, but did not 
succeed in finding her; they, however, were fortunate enough 
to secure both of the cubs. 

Mr. Babcock did not permanently locate there, but sold out 
his "betterments" (not having purchased the land) and set- 
tled elsewhere. The following year, Major Koyce went back 
to Vermont and brought forward his wife, and also brought 
on various seeds, supplies and utensils, and, among other 
things, two small pigs, for which on his arrival he built a 
strong log-pen near his log-house, to prutect them from the 
bears. On two occasions his wile, during his absence, some 



32 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

distance from the house at his work, defended those pisjs and 
drove bruin from the pen — once by belaboring him with a 
larce old fashioned fire-poker, and at another time her weapon 
being a pitchfork. The Indians were at that early day 
somewhat troublesome, and on one occasion the Major dis- 
covered one of the dusky braves in his cornfield helping 
himself, and, taking a circuitous route, came upon him unex- 
pectedly, ano gave him a tremendous " thrashing," and he 
was never again annoyed by them. His wife had lived here 
six mouths without seeing any of her own sex, when her 
desire to see a woman was gratified by a visit to their log- 
house of a squaw, whom she welcomed heartily with a kiss. 
Amono- the seeds he brought with him were a considerable 
variety of medicinal plants, which he planted and raised for 
use in case of need, for in the event of sickness there was no 
physician in all that section. Many of those plants still, 
though after the lapse of ninety years, grow among and 
thrive around the ruins of the old hearthstone of the pioneer. 
He also, among other things, brought silk-worms and planted 
mulberry trees, thinking to make their own silk. Of the 
apple trees which he started, one still stands, like a lone sen- 
tinel, the oldest apple tree set out by a white man in the 
town of Paris. He was ver}^ successful in " clearing up" and 
improving his farm, and in a few j^ears it was looked upon 
as one of the best farms on " the hill." 

They had several children born to them in the old log- 
house near the spring, two of whom died and now lie in 
unmarked graves in the old orchard. In May, 1806, he sold 
out his farm to Henry Addington, grandfather of the present 
occupant, and removed to Westmoreland, where he purchased 
another farm. Later on, he removed to Marcellus, where he 
died July 30, 1814, aged 49. His family consisted of six 
sons: Daniel, William, Hiram, Clark, Charles and Henry; 
and three daughters : Polly, Betsey and Catharine. Two of 
the sons alone survive: Clark, in Cleveland, Ohio, and Henry, 
the youngest, who, hale and hearty, bearing his 73 years 
lightly, resides in New Hartford. Charles -.^as long and 
favorably known on the "hill," where he pursued the tan- 
ning business for man}^ years. lie passed away in the prime 
of lifu, leaving a wife and family. His widow again married 



PARIS HILL. 33 

("to William Osborn) and ao^ain widowed, passes her declining 
years pleasantly with her son, Spencer Royce. The surviv- 
ing daughter, Mary, wife of Milton R. Hubbard, resides in 
Buffalo. Williani Royce, the second son of the pioneer, lived 
for many years at Sauquoit; in early days carrying on a 
cooper shop, and later, the tannery there. He was born May 
19, 1793, and married Mercy, daughter of Hobert Graves, 
January 4, 1815. Their children were, William Harrison, 
Eliza, George W., Henry M., Jane E. and George W., 2d, who 
married Lucy A., daughter of Alpha Smith, the millwright. 
She died April 16, 1858. Henry M., who carried on the tan- 
nery for many years at East Sauquoit, married Martha, 
daughter of George Wadsworth, now both deceased, two chil- 
dren surviving them : Eugene, residing at New Hartford, and 
Cornelia M., wife of Julian A. Rogers, of Providence, R. I. 
After a busy life, prominent in all the various civic, military 
and educational enterprises of the village, William Royce was 
gathered to his repose, September 1, 1870, at the advanced 
age of 77. There survive of his family: his eldest son, 
William Harrison Royce, a well-known business man of 
Utica ; a daughter, Jane E., wife of Hon. Martin L. Hunger- 
ford, also of Utica, and the youngest son, George W., in a 
western State. Mary Wright, the wife of the Paris pioneer, 
and the first white woman that made a home in the wilder- 
ness of Paris, after the death of her husband, came back to 
the old neighborhood, and married Martin Porter, a widower, 
whose farm adjoined her old home, and who, coming from 
Connecticut, settled there in 1792. He has many descend- 
ants from his first wife, who reside in the " Porter neighbor- 
hood." They weregathered "home" almost literally together: 
he, June ICth, she, June 20th, 1843, in the 75th year of her 
age. 

Colonel Timothy Tuttle was the first settler at the village 
proper of Paris Hill. In the year 1788, in company with, 
twenty families, (Rev. Samuel Kirkland among the number,) 
he settled at Clinton, on the now " Royce farm," where he 
built the first frame house in the town. His daughter, Miss 
Merab Tuttle, was drowned in the Oriskany Creek in the 
spring of 1788. In crossing the creek on a log extended 

C 



34 HISTOEY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

from shore to shore, when near the center of the creek, she 
became dizzy and fell into the stream, which was swollen 
■into a spring freshet. Her companion, Miss Anna Foot, 
daughter of Captain Moses Foot, had just previously crossed 
in safety, and at once gave the alarm, and assistance was 
promptly on hand, but such was the force of the current that 
she was swept down stream and under a pile of drift-wood, 
and when recovered life was extinct. Her sudden and un- 
timely fate created a profound sensation, and cast a deep 
gloom over the little community. At the funeral, there being- 
no clergvman in the frontier settlement. Captain Foot offered 
the prayer, and Nehemiah Jones, father of Hon. Bomroy 
Jones, read an appropriate sermon. Her grave was first dug 
on " the green," but it being thought too wet, she was buried 
in the south part of the present burying-ground, which was 
then a part of her father's tarm. The scene of the fatality 
was a little below the site of the bridge, on the road to the 
college ; no bridge, however, at that day spanned the stream. 
Her death was the first among the settlers. Colonel Tuttle, 
having accepted the position of Land Agent for the sale of 
land at what was afterward Paris Hill, erected the first 
framed house and took up his residence there. The house 
was built on the site, and is a part of the house afterward in 
1806 the tavern of Jesse Thomson, and now occupied by Mr. 
D. C. Addington as a residence, and is opposite the road lead- 
ing to Clinton. Colonel Tuttle was a prominent man in the 
early affairs, and one of the first officers chosen at the organi- 
zation of the town of Paris, at the first town meeting, April 
2, 1793. He gave to the village the land that forms the east 
half of " Paris Green" — other citizens contributing the west 
half. He was a leading, influential member of old Amicable 
Lodge, No. 25, F. and A. M., being made a Mason in that 
Lodge, under the Mastership of Judge Sanger, in 1793. 

About the year 1803, Eli Moore occupied this building as a 
store, and until about 1806, when Jesse Thomson converted 
it into a hotel. Eli Moore was a mason by trade, and in 
company with Hon. Uri Doolittle, also a mason, built the first 
brick building in Utica, for J. P.Dorchester, at the lower end 
of Genesee street, near Bagg's Square. Mr. Moore married a 
daughter of Mr. Doolittle. His nephew, Leonard Moore, now 



PARIS HILL. 35 

in his 91st year, and residing in Utica, was his clerk in the 
store, the only other store on the Hill being kept by a Mr. 
Stanton, father of Daniel Stanton — these two stores being 
the first on Paris Hill. Leonard Moore was born in Union, 
Tolland County, Ct., August 28, 1789, and about the year 
1800 came with his father to Vernon ; thence soon after 
engaged with his uncle, Eli Moore, on Paris Hill. 

Henry Addington, who purchased the " pioneer farm" of 
Major Royce, and settled thereon in the spring of 1806, was 
born at Greenwich, Conn., September 18, 1751, and died in 
the house now on the farm, September 9th, 1834. His son 
Henry,- who succeeded to the farm, was born in the town of 
Oyster Bay, Long Island, May 1, 1781, and in the same room 
in the old house in which his father died, he, too, passed 
away, September 23, 1863, in the fullness of years, aged 82. 
At his death the title of the old pioneer farm was vested in 
his son. Colonel Isaac L. Addington, the present occupant, 
who was born in the same old house, February 25, 1824'. It 
is a coincidence that his brother, David C. Addington, born in 
the same house, now owns and occupies the pioneer frame 
house on " the hill," erected by Colonel Tuttle. The Major 
Eoyce farm was in lot ^'l of the seventh division of a patent 
of 4-7,000 acres, granted to Daniel Coxe, &c., and subject to 
quit-rents to be paid to the State annually, at the rate of 
" two shillings and six-pence sterling for one hundred acres." 
The quit-rents were finally commuted by Henry Addington 
for the sum of $400, paid into the State Treasury, as per cer- 
tificate issued to him at Albany, November 18, 1818, and 
signed by John Eli, Jr., Deputy Comptroller, and Gerritt L. 
Dox, Treasurer. The commutation was effected in accordance 
with an act of Legislature tor all such cases. 

Some of the land in the vicinity of Paris Hill was owned 
by General George Washington. The deed of the old place 
of Darius Seovil, in 1804, where he settled, coming from 
Watertown, Litchfield county, Conn., was from the executors 
of George Washington's estate. Some years later, Bushrod 
Washington, (a kinsman,) visited Paris Hill to look after the 
lands in that vicinity that had fallen to him as legatee of 
-George Washington. Governor DeWitt Clinton also owned 
lands in the vicinity, as legatee of his father. 



36 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

The original deed to Major Royce was given September 15, 
1794, and beais the signature of Will Coxe, of the city of 
Burlington, N. J., and witnessed by Edwin Shippen, Jr., and 
Jcdediah Sanger. Salmon Hecox, a Revolutionary veteran, 
born in Barrington, Ct., in 1760, came to Paris in 1796, and 
settled on the faim now occupied by his grandson, George 
Hecox, where he died in August, 1826, which was in lot No. 
23, Coxe's Patent, seventh grand division. One deed signed 
and witnessed same as Major Royce's, was issued to him and 
Martin Porter, November 19, 1798, jointly, they afterwards 
dividing the land into two farms. Will Coxe was the princi- 
pal ])roprietor of Coxe's Patent, embiacing 47,000 acres. 

Benjamin Barnes, Benjamin Bar ncs, Jr., John Humaston, 
the Simmons brothers, (Aaron, Adams and Abel,) and 
Stephen Barrett, came in soon after Major Royce. Mr. Bar- 
rett was one of the town officers chosen at the first town 
meeting, April 2, 1793. Luther Richards, Fobes and Jona- 
than Head, Darius Scovil and his sons Isaac, Seabury and 
Edward, were also early settlers. A post-office was early es- 
tablished here, the first postmaster, Henry McNiel, being the 
first town clerk, and was afterwards supervisor and member 
of Assembly. Samuel Stiles, David, his son, and Peter 
Selleck were early settlers. Captain Uri Doolittle, Captain 
Gideon Seymour and Eli Blakeslee were also early settlers 
and prominent men in town. Captain Doolittle was sent to 
the Legislature several times. Jesse Thomson came from 
Connecticut with his brother. Dr. Gurdon Thomson, to Paris 
Hill in 1806, his son, Jesse E., being -6 years old. He was a 
farmer and also kept a popular hotel for many years in the 
first house built on the hill, (by Colonel Tuttle,) where D. C. 
Addington now resides. His brother. Dr. Gurdon Thomson, 
was the father of Samuel Thomson, the well-known dry goods 
merchant in U tica in 1822, whose store was a few doors below 
the Ontario Branch Bank, and known by the sign of " the 
green door and brass knocker;" a gigantic gilt knocker being 
placed on the door of the second story over the entrance. He 
went to California in the early days of gold excitement, and 
■with his wife now resides at Oakland, in that State. Polly 
Thomson, daughter of Jesse Thomson, married Norman Grid- 
ley, a brother of the late Judge Gridley, of Utica, and her 



PARIS HILL. 37 

300, Judge Thomson Gridley, now resides in Jackson, Mich. 
Jesse E Thomson succeeded his father (Jesse) in business and 
wsis a prominent man at Paris Hill for many years, tiiially 
removing to Utica about ISiS, where he afterwards died. His 
jons, Milton, LaMott, Mortimer and Jesse, well-known in 
Dusiness circles in Utica, and a daughter, Mrs. William 
Bailey, survive him, as well as his widow, now well advanced 
in years, who was the daughter of William Babl)itt, a Revo- 
utionary soldier, who, with his father, Nathaniel, were both 
in the war, much of the time in or near Boston. Among the 
first grievances that led to the Revolution was the duty im- 
posed on tea, which at length culminated in a public meeting, 
November 29, 1773, which resolved " that the tea should not 
be landed, that no duty should be paid, and that it should be 
sent back in the same vessel." Vessel after vessel arrived in 
the harbor, and finding they could not unload, desired to re- 
turn with their cargo to England, but G >vernor Hutchinson 
refused to grant permission for them to pass the castle. The 
igitation increased, and a large meeting was held December 
18, 1773, addressed by Josiah Quincy. In the evening, the 
question was put, " Do you abide by your former resolution 
bo prevent the landing of the tea ?" The vote was unani- 
mous in the affirmative. Application was again made to the 
Governor for a " pass." After a short delay, his refusal was 
communicated to the assembly. Instantly a person, dis- 
guised like an Indian, gave the "war-whoop" from the gallery. 
At the signal, the people rushed out of the house and hastened 
to the wharves. About twenty persons, in the dress of Mo- 
hawks, boarded the vessels, and protected Sy the crowd on 
shore, bioke open three hundred and forty two chests of tea, 
and emptied their contents into the ocean. Nathaniel Bab- 
bit was the hero of the " war-whoop," and one of those 
twenty " Mohawks" at that celebrated " tea party" that pre- 
cipitated the Revolution. His son, William, was 17 years old 
when he enlisted, and thereafter served through the war. In 
the spring of 1791, he left Middlefield, Ct., with his family, 
and took his way to the wilderness of Central New York. 
Arriving at Utica, he was ottered the land now comprising 
the city and extending well out towards New Hartford, for 
twentv-five cents per acre, but concluded to go on, and up 



38 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PAEIS. 

the Sauquoit valley, where he purchased a farm one-half mile 
west of Sauquoit, on the "Old Moyer Road," (the Indian trail 
from the Mohawk to Buffalo,) being the first settler on that 
road to Paris Hill, paying fifty cents per acre, and thereon 
erecting a house, commenced his battle with the wilderness. 
At that time there were but three houses at Paris Hill. He 
became a prominent man in town, and at the first town meet- 
ing, at the house of Captain Foot, at Clinton, (then Paris,) 
held April 2, 1793, was chosen one of the first Assessors. The 
old farm that he cleared off is now occupied by Mr. Throop^ 
He had a large family and many descendants, his son, the 
late Miller Babbitt, being long identified with the growth and 
business of Waterville ; one daughter married Daniel Prior, a 
veteran of " 1812," and son of Jesse Prior, a pioneer and 
Revolutionary soldier; another daughter married Charles 
Robinson, the old Justice- of the Peace of Sauquoit, and 
another daughter, Widow Jesse Thomson — verging upon 80 — 
now of IJtica, is the oidy survivor in this section ; the only 
surviving son (Curtis) resides in Flat Rock, Ohio. When he 
settled on the Moyer Road, the nearest grist-mill and the 
nearest doctor were at Whitestown. Some years after h-e- 
settled here, his bri>ther, Nathaniel, Jr., came on and settled 
near Holman Cit}^ but afterwards removed to East Sauquoit, 
where he kept tavern in the house now occupied by Asher 
Gallup. One of his sons (George) died many years ago; the 
other, (Benjamin,) who is remembered as an active, enterpris- 
ing lad — wlien a mere boy peddling raz )r strops and notions 
on " training days," or any occasion that called together a 
crowd — survives Tiim and resides in New York — B. T. Babbitt,, 
the millionaire soap manufacturer, of world-wide fame, and 
proprietor of the extensive machine shops at Whitesboro, and 
the only descendant of a Paris pioneer who has attained to a 
colossal fortune. October 29, 1831, William Babbitt, hero of 
the Revolution and a pioneer of Paris, at the ripe age of 75,, 
after filling well his station in life, folded his arms and went 
to his rest, now calmly reposing in the old buiying ground 
on the little mound at West Sauquoit, past which bubbles 
dancingly down the cleai- running brook flowing from the 
famous spiing that bursts from the hillside of his old pioneer 
farm and home. 



PARIS HILL. 39 

Dr. Amos G. Hull was the pioneer physician of Paris Hill. 
He was a fine physician and one of the best surgeons in the 
country. He removed to New Hartford, in 1796, and was 
that year made a Mason in old Amicable Lodge, and was the 
first physician there. On the organization of the Oneida 
County Medical Society, in 1806, he was elected its first 
president. He removed to Utica in 1811. He was the pio- 
neer manufacturer of hernial trusses in 1817. He was a 
second time president of the Oneida County Medical Society 
in 1820, and a permanent member of the State Medical So- 
ciety. About the year 1821, he removed to New York, and 
died about 1835, while on a visit in Connecticut. His suc- 
cessor at Paris Hill was Dr. Sampson, who, about the year 
1810, took Dr. Judd in partnership, and in 1812, during the 
epidemic or tyuhus fever that raged fatally on the Hill, .sold 
out to Dr. Judd, who practiced for many years, and was suc- 
ceeded by the late Dr. Larrabee, who practiced there during 
his lifetime, and at his death was succeeded by Dr. H. E,. 
Hughes, the present physiciaiL 

There were two distilleries on the "Hill," one carried on by 
a Mr. Haywood and the other by Samuel Addingtou, who 
also carried on a pot-ashery. Other pot-asheries were carried 
on by Mr. Mott, Southard & Hammond, and John Grandy. 

Justus and Julius Munson.the Kingsburys, Tompkins, Val 
Pierce, Isaac Welton, Erastus Weber, Uri Doolittle, Jr., and 
his son Carlos, John J. Wicks, Leander Richards, Isaac Scovil, 
Lysander and Harvey Head, John Bailey and William Rich- 
ards are well remembered farmers south of the Hill ; Anson 
Hubbard, William Burrett, Seabury Scovil, Abiam Bartlett, 
the Walkers, Hecoxes, Porters and Seth Smith, (father of John 
Smith,) Thompsons and Neals, prominent farmers north; also 
Hon. Levi Blakeslee, member of Assembly in 1855, 1864' and 
1867, and the Simmonses, Seymours, Laphams, Paul Bailey and 
Scoffields near the village, al«o Schuyler Hubbard, deputy 
sherift and noted detective, and Ralph Head. The late 
Chester Scoffield being the first male child born there. On 
the Moyer Road, towards Sauquoit, Tillinghast Simmons and 
Bei-iah Head, also prominent farmers. Joseph Greenhill kept 
the tavern on the coiner. George W. Head was a noted mer- 
chant there for many years and until about 1849. when he 



40 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

was succeeded by Porter C. Huntley. Daniel Kelley and 
William Wooden, about that time, were also merchants. D. 
C. Addington, more recently, and the present merchant and 
postmaster is William H. Ferris. John Wicks was a sailor, 
and born in East Hampton, Long Island, April 11, 1764, and 
married Sally Bartlett, December 17, 1789. When the 
British took Long Island, he removed to North Guilford, Ct., 
and from there came to Paris, in 1800. He lived in the old 
church three weeks, and then located on the old " pioneer 
road" on the high ground south of the road and opposite the 
location of Major Royce, where he lived to a good old age, 
respected by all, dying May 3, 1836. He had seven children. 
His son, Constant H. Wicks, was a prominent man in town. 
Justice of the Peace, and several times Supervisor. He 
finall}^ removed to Clinton, where he died a few years since. 
He was first elected Supervisor in 1835, with the following 
(Whig) ticket : 

For Supervisor, Constant H. Wicks; For Town Clerk, 
David J. Millard ; For Assessors, Thomas W. Dixon, Horace 
Bartlett, Caleb Green ; For Overseers of the Poor, John 
Baily, Jr., Moses Gray ; For Commissioners of Highways, 
John J. Wicks, Orange Barber, John D. Campbell; For Com- 
missioners of Common Schools, James M. Gray, Charles C. 
Wicks, Jeremiah Knight ; For Inspectors of Common Schools, 
Leveritt Bishop, Rufus Priest, Alonzo Gray; For Constables, 
Camp Griftin, Joseph Greenhill, Gersham Randall, Hiram 
Holman ; For Collector, Camp Grifiin; For Justices of the 
Peace, William Walker, William J. Eager ; For Sealer of 
Weights and Measures, Jordan Gray. 

Another son, (John J.,) farmer, and holding various offices 
in town, resided during his lifetime in the Doolittle neighbor- 
hood, with the exception of a few years' proprietorship of the 
Hollister House, (now Murray House,) Clayville, the manage- 
ment of which he assumed in 1850. The only surviving one 
of the family' is 'Squire Charles C. Wicks, born in 1811, who 
resided many years on the old farm, and but recently remov- 
ing to the village, where he now resides. He has repeatedly 
been honored by his townsmen, being elected Justice of the 
Peace and to various other positions. His son, Rev. John B. 
Wicks, is the present rector of St. Paul's Church, and is 
educating four Indians of the far-western tribes, in the 



A BEAR HUNT. 41 

Christian religion, tliat they may go back to their tribes as 
niissionaries. 

In the olden time the town-meetings were held in the old 
church on the green, and when the hour for voting arrived, 
the legal voters were assembled in the church, a table was 
placed at the door, at which was seated the old Justice of the 
Peace, 'Squire Asahel Curtis, who, placing his hat on the 
table, in lieu of a ballot-box, received therein the votes, which 
were written by the voters and deposited with uncovered 
head, in the old 'Squire's hat, as they one by one passed out. 
When the church was thus emptied, the polls closed. Elec- 
tions were held at six different polling places in town, con- 
suming three days. First day, morning, at Paris Hollow, 
(now Cassville,) at Stanley & Marsh's distillery storehouse, 
about 40 voters; afternoon, Paris Hill, in old church, about 
100 voters. Second day, morning, East Sauquoit, Henry 
Crane's tavern, about 100 voters ; afternoon, West Sauquoit, 
Savage's tavern, about 100 voters. Third day, morning, 
school- house, near Babcock Hill, about 30 voters; afternoon, 
Paris Furnace, (now Clayville,) at Schollard's tavern, (after- 
wards "Hod" Luce's,; receiving about 50 votes. They then 
repaired to Deacon Howard's grocery, adjoining his brewery, 
near the old Paris furnace, and proceeded to count up. Later 
on, the town-meetings were held in rotation, Paris Hill, Sau- 
quoit, Clayville and Cassville, and the past few years at 
Clayville solely. The town is now divided into two election 
districts, with polling places on election day at Sauquoit and 
Cassville. 'Squire Charles C. Wicks has been clerk or con- 
nected with the counting of the ballots and receiving votes 
at every election for more than forty years. 

As an incident of the period when New York was a "slave 
State," Tracy Wilmot traded a merino sheep for a negro slave, 
who, being afterward freed by the law, went away, but finally 
came back and died at Paris Hill. 

A BEAR HUNT. 

At an early day a bear crossed the green and being discov- 
ered was hastily pursued by men and dogs, and run to a point 
near Major Royce's, wheie he was treed. In the haste no 



42 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

one had taken forethought to bring a gun, so, while the men 
and boys surrounded the tree to keep bruin up there, Captain 
Whitney went up to John Wicks' and got his old "queen's 
arras" musket, which he loaded with " nine buckshot and a 
ball" — the traditional bear charge — and returning to the tree 
took deliberate aim and blazed away, when down came the 
bear badly wounded, but not hors de combat, and old " Bose," 
the favorite dog of Major Royce, pitched in, but the bear 
with a stroke of his paw nearly severed his throat, and put 
him out of the fight, but the Major, flying to the relief of his 
dog, single-handed, with an axe, dispatched the bear. " Bose" 
bled profusely, and all supposed he was fatally wounded, but 
he eventually recovered. The bear was taken in triumph to 
Colonel Tuttle's tavern, on the Hill, where they held an old- 
fashioned carousal, day and evening, dressing the bear, divid- 
ing the spoils, and keeping the flip-iron hot. They were the 
leading men in town, and such was then the custom, that 
their revelry excited no .surprise or comment, but such a 
"spree" now a-days of the leading men in town would 
" astonish the natives." 

AN OLD-TIME WOLF HUNT. 

In the year 1805, a wolf crossed the road between the Hill 
and Seabury Scovil's place, and led off across the lots, and 
crossing the Sanoerfield road below the green, and .so on down 
near the Doolittle neigh boi-hood. He, being discovered, was 
soon pursued by a number of the villagers on horseback, the 
snow being very deep at the time, and was finally brought to 
bay in the woods near the tannery, south of the Hill, (near 
the Carlos Doolittle place,) where he was shot by Hubbard 
Howe. Jesse Thomson, who was well mounted on a power- 
ful horse, took Mr. Howe on horseback behind him, and with 
the wolf on the horse in front of him, he headed the ])roces- 
sion for the Hill, followed by Leonard Moore and a large 
number of others on horseback, who had joined in the chase, 
and with .shouts of triumphant rejoicing, finally arrived at 
Stanton's store on the west side of the "green." Arriving 
here, it was decided that as Mr. Howe had shot the wolf, he 
should have it, provideil he bought a gallon of New England 



THE GREAT WOLF HUNT. 43 

rum for the part3^ to which he readily consented ; and they 
all proceeded to make merry in an old-fashioued jollification. 
Mr. Howe could well afford to " stand treat" liberally, as the 
bounty for killing a wolf was at that time S60. 

Samuel Addington was clerk at Stanton's store; was after- 
ward in the pottery business in Utica, and later on, removed 
to Buffalo. His son, Charles Addinoton, met with an appall- 
ing death, in the summer of 184-9, while visitinq; Niagara 
Falls. At the foot-bri(ige above the cataract he playfully 
held a little girl of his party over the rushing waters, who, 
in her fright, struggled from his grasp and fell into the seeth- 
ing rapids. He plunged in to the rescue, and both were 
swept over the falls. 

THE GREAT WOLF HUNT IN THE WINTER OF 1831. 

A large he-wolf crossed the Genesee turnpike a little west 
of Dunham's Half- Way House, on Sunday, January 23, 1831. 
He destroyed for Mr. Abraham Bartlett, of Paris Hill, the 
same night, eleven fine sheep. He bent his course south, 
through Paris, Bridgewater and Brookfield, probably for the 
great Chenango swamp. He was pursued through these 
towns by the inhabitants, in a very promiscuous and irregu- 
lar manner, each man for himself, on Monday, Tuesday and 
Wednesday, when he was wounded through the flank by Mr. 
Burdick. On Wednesday noon, a party of energetic and 
high-spirited young men, of Paris Hill, sixteen in number, 
viz., Julius D. Walker, Abram Bartlett, J. Mabbett Mott, 
Stephen G. Mott, Cornelius Palmer, Samuel Collins, James 
Smith, John A. Brooks, Schuyler Hubbard, Charles Royce, 
Beriah Head, Lewis Babbitt, (Frederick S. Savage and Ste- 
phen Hull, of Sauquoit,) Cornelius Strong and Welton, 

combined and formed themselves into a junto, resolving to 
pursue him until taken. By this party he was headed in a 
swamp on Beaver Creek, a little north of Bailey's Corners, in 
Brookfield, Madison County, about sunset. In the evening, 
they marshaled themselves into regular and well-disciplined 
small parties, with the best possible understanding of 
airangements by signs, sounds and gestures. 'At peep of day 
all were at their posts, assisted particularly by a Mr. Denison, 



44 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of Brookfield, by request, to put them on the track where he 
had left him on the evening before. At about 7 o'clock in 
the morning, he was shot through the head, at a distance of 
about seven rods, by Mr. Denison, in the lair where he had 
lodged during the night. He had destroyed but one sheep in 
that section. He was then hung up in a sleigh, on a gallows 
about ten feet high, with a tri-colored llag flying on a pole 
twenty feet high. As they passed in this manner triumph- 
antly through the villages of Bridgewater, Paris Furnace, 
(Clayville,) and Sauquoit, on to Paris Hill, they were greeted 
with shouts of ap])lause. He was on exhibition for several 
days at Thomson's Inn, Paris Hill, suspended in the air on a 
gallows, with the tri-colored flag still flying. 

ANOTHER WILD ANIMAL KILLED ON BEAVER CREEK. 

An old hand-bill, printed in 1864, reads as follows: 

Oo and See the Brookfield Panther. — Mr. John P. Reynolds, 
of Unadilla Forks, having purchased this celebrateo animal, 
will exhibit him in this place for a short time. 

The history of this fine specimen of Panther is in brief as 
follows: His cry was heard by various persons during the 
past year on the "Dry Lots" in Paris, and all about the valley 
of Beaver Creek, in the town of Sangerfield and Brookfield, 
also on Wharton Creek, in Exeter, and he had killed a large 
number of sheep i.'i different parts of the country. 

On the 20th of December, 1864, Mr. Nathan P. Lang- 
worthy, of Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y., lost three sheep, 
and attributed it to dogs, and had damages awarded by the 
town authorities. On the 23d he lost two more from his 
barn. Following a suspicious looking track he found the 
Panther under an upturned tree ; it came out, and Mr. L. 
" made tracks" for some of his neighbors, who went out 
armed with shot guns and hounds. Mr. H. H. Dennison and 
Mr. Cheesbnj soon came up to a tree, against which Cheesbro 
leaned and heard a snarl above. They fired at him twice, 
when he came down part way and then jumped 30 feet at a 
leap, made for the Bascom Swamp. The hunters followed 
him and found him at bay under a tree-top. A Mr. Rams- 
dell, 16 years of age, came up with his rifle and gave him his 
death blow. The party fired five shots, three of which took 
eflect, the last of which was fired by Mr. Ramsdell. 

It is thought that this same animal carried off a pig be- 
longing to Mr. Henry Babcock, of Clark ville, a short time 



ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. 45 

ago, as he had been seen in the woods near by, and had also 
been heard upon Mr. B.'s house. 

Competent judges concur in the belief that he is the largest 
and finest specimen on exhibition in this State. He measures 
six feet and six inches in length, weighs one hundred pounds 
and stands as he was killed. 

A look at him will convince the most skeptical that he has 
muscle enough to make him the terr3r of the foi'est. 

Admission 10 cents. Children under 10 3'ears, 5 cents. 

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, (EPISCOPAL,) PAPIS HILL. 

This is the oldest Episcopal Church in the State of New 
York, west of Johnstown. The matter of establishing the 
chui'ch was initiated as early as 1795. Upon the arrival of 
the Blakeslees, in the year 179G, the subject was again agi- 
tated, and in the fall of that year, on "general training" day^ 
those present that were Episcopalians, met in an ox-cart and 
took the preliminary steps for an organization, so soon as ten 
could be found to constitute the legal number for a vestry. 
The prime movers in the matter were Captain Uri Doolittle, 
Captain Gideon Seymour and Eli Blakeslee, Revolutionary 
veterans. The first formal meeting of members was held 
February 13, 1797. The following is a copy of the minutes : 

Paris, February 13, 1797. 

At a meeting of the members of the Protestant Episcopal 
order, legally warned and met at the dwelling-house of Selah 
Seymour, and proceeded according to an act for the relief of 
the Protestant Epi.scopal Church, in the State of New York, 
as follows : 

Firstly, chose Gideon Seymour, Chairman. 

Secondly, chose Selah Seymour, Clerk of Meeting. [Selah 
Sevmour was made a Mason in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, 
in "1796.] 

Thirdly, chose Eli Blakeslee, Senior Warden. 

Fourthly, chose Gideon Seymour, Junior Warden. 

Fifthly, chose eight Vestrymen, as they stand : Uri Doo- 
little, Benjamin Graves, Peter Selleck, Epaphroditus Bly, 
(Bligh,) Selah Seymour, Thomas Stebins, George Harden, 
Noah Humaston, Silas Judd. 

Same time voted. That the Monday after Easter Sunday 
shall be held as a day for election to Church Wardens and 
Vestrymen. 



4G HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Then voted, The uame of the Church shall be styled and 
called St. Paul's Church, in Herkimer County. 

Voted to dissolve this meeting the 31st of February, 1797. 

The following is the record of the second meeting : 

Met on Monday, 17th April, 1797. 

Chose Gideon Seymour, Chairman. 

Chose Selah Sej^mour, Clerk. 

Firstly, chose Gideon Seymour, Senior Warden. 

Secondly, chose Eli Blakeslee, Junior Warden. 

Chose Jonathan Thorn, Uri Doolittle, Thomas Dakin, 
Benjamin Graves, Thomas Stebins, Abram Bailey, Peter Sel- 
leck, George Harden, Vestrymen. 

Chose Thomas Dakin and Eli Blakeslee, clerks to read pub- 
lic service. 

Chose Thomas Dakin and Selah Seymour as a committee 
to settle with Mr. Ellison and Mr. Steele for the services that 
the}^ have done for us. (Mr. Ellison, familiarly known as 
the "English Domine," was rector of an Ejiiscopal Cliui'ch in 
Alban}^; Mr. Steele was pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
at Paris Hill.) 

Voted, That Thomas Dakin and Selah Seymour .shall fur- 
nish a Society Book, and be allowed for it by the Society. 

Then dissolved the meeting, April 17, 1797. 

Regular services commenced the following Sunday, Eli 
Blake.slee reading the .service and Selah Seymour the sermon, 
and no Sunday has gone over since that time that the church 
has not been opened and service held. 

The first clergyman that paid them a visit was the Rev. 
Robert Griffith Wetmore, on the 14th of November, 1797, 
when he administered the rite of baptism at the houses of 
Peter Selleck and Uri Doolittle, at which time he baptized 
Rufus Lock wood Selleck, Jesse Selleck, Drake Selleck, Mary 
Selleck, Ebenezer Lockwood Selleck and George Selleck. 
Father Nash visited the parish, December 10, 1798; Rev. 
Philander Chase, December 16, 1798; and during the next 
few years, Rev. John Urquhart, Rev. Mr. Thatcher, Rev. Mr. 
Judd and Rev. Davenport Phelps. In 1809, Rev. Amos G. 
Baldwin officiated as rector, one-half the time in Utica, and 
also at Paris and Fairfield, and until 1814. Bishop Moore 
visited in 1810, and Bishop Hobart in 1812, each confirming 
a number of persons. In 1814, Rev. William B. Lacey offi- 
ciated, and Rev. William A. Clark and Rev. Mr. Na.sh in 



ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. 47 

L815. In 1817, while the latter was at Paris, $2,000 were 
■aised by subscription to build a church, 8475 of which was 
'aised by Darius Scovil and his sons, Isaac, Seabur}^ and 
Edward. Kev. Mr. Huse was here from 1817 and until after 
1819. From 1824 to 1828, Rev. Algernon S. Hollister offi- 
siated. He is remembered as a ver}^ eloquent speaker. He 
was " made a Mason" in Paris Lodge, No. 34G, December G, 
1824, and afterward delivered the address when the}^ cele- 
brated St. John's Day. During the j^ear 1828, Rev. Orsamus 
H. Smith, "the first clergyman to devote his undivided atten- 
tion to the welfare of the parish," began his rectorship, and 
continued until 1833. The rectors since have been : Revs. 
Henry Peck, until 1844; Isaac Swart, 1844; John Hughes. 
1845; William Baker, 1847-53; M. Northrup, occasional!}^ in 
1854; William Atwell, 1854-57; William J. Alger, 1857-68, 
Rev. John B. Wicks was lay-reader during the latter year 
and until November, when he was oi'dained, and has since 
been the rector of the parish, and officiates also at Clayville 
and Bridgewater. 

Their first church edifice was erected about 1800, and 
afterwards used as a dwelling, and finally burned. The pres- 
ent frame church was erected in 1818, and consecrated by 
Bishop Hobart, September 20, 1819, who that day confirmed 
seventy-nine persons. Memorial inscriptions : A marble 
tablet near the entrance reads : 

" Erected to the memory of the Founders and First Vestry 
of St. Paul's Church, Paris. Organized the 13th of February, 
1797. Eli Blakeslee, Senior Warden ; Gideon Seymour, 
Junior Warden ; Vestrymen, Uri Doolittle, Selah Seymour, 
Benjamin Graves, Thomas Stebins, Peter Selleck, George 
Harden, Ep'o's Bly, Silas Judd." 

On the windows are inscribed as follows: 

" In memoriam : Isaac Scovil, vestryman of the parish 28 
years, between 1808 and 1861, and warden from 1844 to 
1855. Died December, 1861, aged 81." 

" In memory of Anson Hubbard. Died December 28, 1863, 
He was a vestrymen of this church thirty-two yeai's." 

"In memory of Nabby Hubbard, who died September 11, 
1857." 

"Gift of the family of Charles P. Davis, and in memory of 
the Rt. Rev. William Heathcote DeLancey, first Bishop of 



4,8 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Western New York. Born October 8, 1797. Died April 5, 
1865." 

The organ in the church is a very old one, and believed to- 
be the first one in the county. November 16, 1801, a sub- 
scription was raised amounting to $4.85, to purchase a bass- 
viol, but the ancient musician thereof is unknown. 

OBITUARIES FROM THE PRESS. 

William Osborn was born in Fairfield, Ct, November 2, 
1779; removed to Waterville, N. Y., abcut. 1805, and after- 
ward to Paris Hill, where he resided until his death, which 
occurred June 15, 1858, aged 74 years. He has since his 
childhood been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
and for more than forty years a constant attendant at St. 
Paul's, Paris Hill. . Although living for thirty years a dis- 
tance of six miles, and a great portion of the year the roads. 
in very bad condition, the weather or roads were never an 
obstacle to his attendance at church, unless of quite as formi- 
dable a character as would be necessary to suspend secular 
pursuits during the week, and his energy was such that 
business was never allowed to stop for trifles, and the busi- 
ness of the Sabbath was to go to church. The faithfulness 
and energy which characterized Mr. Osborn as a Christian, 
was exhibited in all the relations of life. He was honest, 
active, energetic, ever at his post of duty, and his advice 
might always be relied upon as sound and prudent. His 
place in the church and in society, it will be difficult to fill. 
He died in peace, patiently bearing the pangs of an acute 
disease, and looking forward with holy hope to a joyful 
resurrection. 

David Stiles, son of Samuel Stiles, the Revolutionary vet- 
eran, born in Southbury, Ct., April 11, 1773, came to Paris 
Hill in 1801, where he lived and died, January 18, 1870, aged 
97 years. The last of our pioneer churchmen has passed 
away. Coming to Paris Hill when thirty years of age, he 
dwelt among us almost sixty-seven years, knowing the parish 
in its infancy, and in all the years of its life and growth to 
the present time. His life was ever an exemplary one — 
active and faithful when in health, calm and hopeful under 



FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 49 

the great iufirmities of his advanced Sige. For tweuty years 
his life was heavily burdened, and he rarely left his dwell- 
ing ; yet, in all the long, weary hours of waiting, " patience 
did her perfect work." His faith never once grew dim, but 
brightened as the time drew near the evening of life, and in 
the blessed hope of a joyful resurrection, he rested from his 
labor. To our parish wealth in saintl}' living, our venerable 
brother has contributed a goodly portion ; and for the good 
example which he sec before us, we yield hearty thanks to 
our Heavenly Father, feeling that the second Master will 
bring the living to a blissful reunion with the fathers none 
before. 

PARIS RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, (CONGREGATIONAL,) PARIS HILL. 

This was the first religious society in the town, and was 
formed of five members : Solomon Wright and his wife Sibil, 
Timoth}^ Tuttle and his wife Mehitable, and Reuben Fowler, 
who met at the dwelling-house of Timothy Tuttle on the 29th 
day of August, 1791. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, pastor of a 
church in New Haven, Ct., while on a visit to the "frontier 
settlements," came by appointment and performed the office 
of moderator, examined their " letters " from the churches 
whence the}'^ had removed, drew up a confession of faith, 
church covenant, rules for admission of members, and they 
oiganized under the style of the "Second Church of Christ 
in White's Town." (Dr. Edwards, during the same visit, 
organized churches at Clinton and New Hartford.) The first 
church edifice was a sniall, barn-like affair, built in 1791 and 
not finished off" inside. Colonel Tuttle, after a time, pur- 
chased it and converted it into a barn, and a larger church 
was erected on the " green," near the west side, with a very 
tall steeple. The bell in the steeple was brought from Albany 
in a sleigh by Peter S. Scofield, (who died August 11, 1805 
aged 84,) and was the first church bell in town. The church 
on the green was finally torn down, and a new one erected 
on the present site, which burned in the fall of 1856, the old 
bell being destroyed in the conflagration, which lit up the 
whole surrounding country. The fire department of Utica — 
so bright was the light — were called out, supposing the fire 
D 



50 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

to be on Corn Hill ; not finding it there, the engines pushed 
on up to Cemetery Hill, from whence they discovered that 
the fire was on the distant height of Paris Hill. The present 
church was on the site of the burned one, and also a session- 
house north of it, which was afterwards enlarged by the Good 
Templars to a suitable size for the purpose of their meetings. 
Rev. Eliphalet Steele was the first regular pastor of the soci- 
ety, coming from Hartford, Ct., and was installed July 15, 
1795, and continued its pastor until his death, which occurred 
October 7, 1817. The table-stone over his grave in the old 
church burying ground reads : 

This Monument is erected 

to the memory of the 

Rev. Eliphalet Steele, A. M., 

by his affectionate Church, 

In testimony of 

their respect for his talents, 

and gratitude for his 

faithful labors 

in the pastoral office. 

Watchful and diligent. 

An impartial inquirer 

after truth, 

An able defender of the 

Christian faith. 

He was born at Hartford. Conn. 

June 26, 1742, 

Graduated at Yale College, 1764, 

Was ordained to the work of 

the Gospel Ministry 

at Egremont, Mass., 1770, 

Dismissed from his pastoral charge 

in that place, 1794, 

Installed at Paris, July 15, 1795, 

Died Oct. 7, 1817, aged 75. 

The Church in Paris, 

of which he was the first Pastor, 

was formed by the 

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., in 1791, 

of 5 members. 

When Mr. Steele was installed, 

it consisted of 19, 

273 were added during his ministry, 

and at the time of his decease 

there were 193 members. 



FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 51 

During Mr. Steele's pastorship, he assisted in formino- 
•churches at the following places, viz : 

August, 1795, at Litchfield ; September, 1796, at Hamil- 
ton ; March. 1797, at Sangerfield ; May, 1797, at Steuben ; 
June 1-i, 1797, at Paris, " Hanover Society," (now Mar.shall.) 
This was the third church in Paris. February 19, 1798, a 
chui'ch was formed out of Paris' first church, at Fish Creek, 
(Camden,) with eight members ; June 9, 1798, at Bridgewater. 
13 members; June 19, 1798, at Norwich Corners, 11 mem- 
bers, from the churches in Paris, Whitestown and Litchfield; 
August 23, 1799, second church at Litchfield, 10 membsrs. 
The church at Paris Hill finally adopted the Presbyterian 
form of goverumtnt. The last great " revival" took place in 
184-9, under the pastorship of the late Rev. S. W. Brace, since 
which time it has gradually dwindled down to a small mem- 
bership. Rev. B. F. Willoughby, of Sauquoit, ofiiciatiug as 
pastor each Sunday afternoon. \/ 

Rev. Mr. Steele was the author of a book, the title pao-e of 
which explains its scope, and reads : 



52 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

FIVE DISCOURSES: 

CONTAINING 

A careful inquiry into the nature of the religion God enjoined 
on the Church under the Old Testament dispensation. 

BEING 

An Attempt to Vindicate the Baptism of Infants 



ON 



A plan in some respects 



new. 



BY THE 

REV. ELIPHALET STEELE, A'. M., 

Pastor of the First Church, in the town of Paris, [N. Y.J 



" He that hatli ears to hear, let him hear." — J(sus Christy 

" These were more noble than those at Fesalonica in that they received 
the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily 
whether these things were so."— St. Paul. 

" Search the Scriptures." — Jesus Christ. 



SHERBURNE : (Chenango County.) 

PRINTED BY ABRAHAM ROMYEN, FOR THE AUTHOR. 
1805. 



GOOD TEMPLARS. 53 

Although it has gone into history that Rev. Mr. Steele was 
the first pastor of the church, it is nevertheless well authenti- 
cated that the Rev. Asahel S. Norton, pastor of the church at 
■Clinton, in 1792, and for forty years thereafter, officiated at 
this, church, as well up to the time of Rev. Mr. Steele's 
arrival in 1795. 

GOOD TEMPLARS. 

Paris Lodge, I. O. G. T., No. 22, was instituted January 
29, 1«78. The first ofiicers were, Orson D. Head, W. C. ; Mrs. 
Carlos Simmons, R. H. S. ; Mrs. W. D. Lapham, L. H. S. ; 
Mrs. H. M. Rouse, W. V. T. ; H. M. Rouse, W. Sec. ; Miss 
Marie Bailey, W. A. Sec; John E. Head, W. F. Sec. ; Dr. H. 
R. Hughes, W. T. ; Fred Simmons, W. Chap. ; George Spicer, 
P. W. C; Joseph McDermott, W. M. ; Miss Del. Bard, W. D. 
M. ; Miss Jennie Osborn, W. I. G. ; William R. Alport, W. O. 
G. ; Colonel Isaac L. Addington, D. Number of charter 
members, G3. / 

The Lodge leased the session house of the Presbyterian 
Oongregational Society for fifteen years, free of rent, on con- 
dition that they kee\) it in repair and insured, with the privi- 
lege of putting on the needed addition of 20 feet in length, 
which cost the Lodge nearly or quite $300, which becomes 
the property of the Society by reversion at the end of the 
fifteen years. It is one ol the strongest Lodges in the county 
in numbers and influence, and has enrolled among its mem- 
bers many of the best citizens of the place, whose character 
and zeal has placed them in the front rank in the Order. 
Although it has not been in existence two years, its present 
Worthy Chief was elected County Chief at the session of the 
County Lodge, held at this place, in October, 1879. H. M. 
Rouse and J. E. Head have held the position of Chief since 
the first oi'ganization. Present ofiicers: Orson D. Head, W. C. ; 
Miss Marie Bailey, R. H. S.; Mrs. Charles Tompkins, L. H. S. ; 
Mrs. I. L. Addiugcon, W. V. T. ; Eliat Simmons, W. Sec. ; 
Medwill Throop, W. A. Sec; Floyd Throop, W. F. S.; Will- 
iam Osborn, W. T. ; H. M. Rouse, W. Chap. ; John E. Head, 
P. W. C. ; Herbert Jones, W. M. ; Miss Jennie Goodwin, W. 
D. M. ; Mis^ Mary Head, W. I. G. ; Charles Tompkins, W. O. 
G. ; M. D. Lapham, D. Number of members, December 1, 
1879, 104. 



54! HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF PARIS HILL. 

Hon. Lorenzo Rouse, member of Assembly in 1850, 1851 
and 1865, who has long resided in the immediate vicinity, 
writes as follows : 

My knowledge of the early history of Paris, is, of course, 
limited as to personal observation, my first acquaintance with 
it having commenced in the sj)ring of 1816, that is, twenty- 
seven years after the first settlement wasmader, vrhich was ao 
Paris Hill and vicinity. The first settlement in the town 
was in 1789. It was then in the town of VVhitestown, and 
was the fourth settlement in the county, Whitestown being 
the first in 1784, Clinton in 1787, Utica in 1788, and Paris 
in 1789. The first settler at Paris Hill was Major Amaziah 
Royce ; soon after him came Benjamin Barnes and son, 
Stephen Barrett, Abel Simmons, Sr., John and Sylvester 
Butler, Asa Shepard and others who settled near. None of 
them, however, settled at the present village, but in the 
vicinity. Tradition says that one of the earliest settlers, if not 
the earliest, at Paris Hill proper, was Colonol Tuttle, who was 
quite a land owner on the east side of what is now ' the 
green." Indeed he gave the east half of the green for a 
public park, other ))arties giving the west half for the same 
purpose. Colonel Tuttle built the first framed house, which I 
recollect as standing in the rear and attached to the house 
now owned bj" D. C. Addington. It was two low stories in 
height and was painted yellow. The present front part of 
that house was built afterward, and for several years was oc- 
cupied Vty Jesse Thomson (father of the late Jesse E. Thom- 
son, of Utica,) as a tavern. Tradition further says that in 
Colonel Tuttle's day a large pine tree was standing in the 
upper part of the park or green. The Colonel caught and 
tamed a young bear, which he used to pet very much. When 
winter came on the bear disappeared, and the Colonel felt the 
loss deeply — was inclined to think some one had shot or stolen 
it — but on a sunny day in March, the beai- was discovered 
cc'ming out of a hole in that pine ti'ee, and he returned to 
his master, who was greatly lejoiced thereat; he had been 
hibernating. 

The first church, erected in 1791, was a plain, barn like 
looking structure, innocent of paint, and in fact never was- 
finished off* inside. After its erection settlers began to come 
in raj)idly, and Colonel Tuttle persuaded the people to sell the 
building to him, and to build laiger, both of which they did.. 
He then removed the first building to the rear of his house, 
and converted it into a barn. The new church was located 



EARLY RECOLLECTIONS. 55 

near the centre of the g-reen, nearest the west side, and was 
reasonably capacious. It had a hig-h steeple and a bell, and 
the inside was arranged with square pews, with doors, like so 
many shee])-pens, a portion of the congregation sitting with 
their backs to the minister. It had a very high pulpit, nearly 
on a level with the galleries, and had a large sounding-board, 
as it was called, suspended over the head of the minister. 
The pulpit, when I first saw it, was occupied by the Kev. 
Eliphalet Steele,* who was its only pastor up to his death, in 
1816. The tall spire was taken down in that or the following- 
vear, and materially shortened. The old edifice stood till 
1832, when it was taken down and the materials u.sed in 
building a new one, located on the spot where the present 
Presbyterian Church stands. That church was subsequently 
burned (in the fall of 1856) through carlessness, and the pres- 
ent one erected. The Episcopal Church was erected in 1797. 
That, too, was a very plain structure, and unpainted. In 
1818, it was removed to the west of the chui'ch lot, and the 
present structure was erected. Val Pierce was the builder, 
assisted by his brother; also Roderick White and others. 
Russel Brooks, Eli Gilbert and the Saxton boys did the plas- 
tering. The old structure, after its removal, was fitted up 
and occupied (with some additions) by Rev. William R. 
Weeks, as a residence and school building, Afterwards, 
Chester Cook bought it and occupied a part as a dwelling and 
the rest as a saddle-harness shop. It subsequently took fire 
and burned. 

The Methodist Church stood on the road going towards 
Clinton, east of the present burial-ground. It had a gpod 
congregation when I first knew it; had its regular .services 
by a circuit-preachei', and had a number of zealous members. 
The society afterwards became extinct, and the church was 
taken down about 1850. 

I have stated that Paris was originally included in the 
town of Whitestown, then a part of Herkimer CJounty. In 
1792, the town of Paris was organized as a separate town, 
and included not only Kirkland and Marshall, but also the 
present towns of Sangerfield, Brookfield, Hamilton, Caze- 
novia and Sherburne. These five latter towns were taken off 
in 1795, and Kirkland, inchidiug Marshall, in 1827, leaving 
the town of Paris with nearly its present boundaries^ the 
only change being the addition of a narrow strip from Kirk- 
land, in 1839, to acconmiodate a few individuals. 

Paris Hill, as we have seen, was the thii-d or fouith settle- 
ment in order of time in the original town of Whitestown, 
and being the farthest south was generally known as the 

*Asahel Norton was the first minister. — [Ed. 



oG HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

" South Settlement." Wheu the present village began to 
manifest itself, it was known as " Shax's Borough," but after 
anew town had been organized and named Paris, it gradually 
assumed its present name of Paris Hill. Wheu I first saw 
the place, nearl}' sixty-two years ago, and for a tew years 
after, it \va,s a more iaiportaut point than at present, and a 
place of much more business. It had three churches, two 
taverns, (as they were then called,) two stores, two blacksmith 
shops, two saddle-harness shops, several carpenters' and shoe- 
makers' shops, one wagon shop, one spinning-wheel maker's 
shop, two tailor shops, two asheries or potash establishments, 
and two cooper sho[)s for the making of barrels, to be used 
for pork, cider, potash, and for whisky, the latter being man- 
ufactured on the premises recently occupied by Mr. Van 
Valkenberg. The whisky was mainly sold to the farmers in 
the vicinity at from tweuty-tive to thirty cents per gallon. 
No doubt there were other manufacturers' shops not recol- 
lected, but Chester Cook's silver-plating shop must not be 
overlooked. A turnpike running through the village for 
some years, connected the place, and all south and southwest 
of it, as far as Oxford, with Utica, by means of intersecting 
the Seneca turnpike at New Hartford. A toll-gate stood a 
little north of the Episcopal Church. The turnpike not prov- 
iug a profitable investment, soon shared a fate similar to that 
of the plank-road, which succeeded at a more modern date, 
(1849,) and was abandoned, to the stockholders' loss. A. grist- 
mill was standing when I first knew the place, on the east 
side of the road, opposite a portion of the Episcopal cemeterj'. 
It was originally intended to be operated ,by horse-power, the 
horses to travel on the inner circumference of a large wheel, 
nearly or quite thirty feet in diameter. This wheel revolved 
with an axle, or shaft, which furnished the water-power to 
the machinery. The builder of this novel grist-mill was a 
Mr. Simister. The working of it proved too destructive to 
horseflesh to be profitable, and it was therefore abandoned. 
Subsequently an attempt was made to utilize the building b}' 
putting in a steam appaiatus, but as the construction of 
stationary steam engines was then but little understood, that 
plan was also abandoned, and the building was demolished 
about 1820. At the lower end of the green, within the line 
of the road leading to Bridgewater, was a public well, fur- 
nishing at all seasons a good supply of pure water to all who 
chose to use it. About the year 18-t(), the bottom seemed to 
drop out, and it contained no water afterward. Probabl3^the 
water had found a fissure in the limestone rock in which the 
well was dug, and escaped in that way. It then became use- 
ful as a sink-hole or drain to carry off in a wet time all the 



EARLY RECOLLECTIONS. 57 

surplus water from the lower part of the green. Finally, it 
Decaine clogged and useless for that purpose, and was closed 
ip. Sixty years ago the green was very convenient as a 
■>arade ground, two, and sometimes three military companies 
nustering on it for parade and inspection at the same time — 
isually the tirst Monday in June, the 4th of July and the 
irst Monday in September. The two or three companies 
strove to outdo each other m the precision and skill of their 
evolutions In some ca.ses a battalion, consisting of six or 
seven companies, assembled there. In one instance, at least, 
,he whole regiment met there in September for general train- 
ng, as it was called. Samuel Comstock, afterwards General 
2!omstock, of Clinton, was then Adjutant, and his orders in 
giving commands were heard very distinctly at a distance of 
jwo miles. Such occasions were then — .so soon after the war 
if 1812 — occasions of much interest, and called out crowds of 
oeople. This gave peddlers of gingerbread, crackers, maple 
sugar, cookies, small beer and cider, a good opportunity to ply 
:.heir vocations, and the old church on the green gave a very 
acceptable shade to them and to their customers if the day 
cvas sunny; and also to the old Revolutionary soldiers, who 
would there assemble together to recount to each other, and to a 
iircle of interested listeners, their several perilous adventures 
ind hair-breadth escapes in, the times that" tried men's souls." 
Among the prominent individuals residing in the village at 
that time may be mentioned General Henry McNiel, ex-judge 
md the member of As.sembly; Elnathan Judd, M. D., the 
leading physician of the place ; Theophilus Steele, Esq., the 
Town Cleric ; Samuel H Addington, merchant and Justice of 
the Peace, and Martin Hawley, landlord and land-owner. 
E.^squire Addington's store was then the building on the west 
side of the green, with a brick front; now.converted into a 
blacksmith shop. It was previously occupied as a store by 
Stanton & Hawley. The house north of it, on the corner, 
was occupied by Major Hawle}^ and was used as a hotel or 
tavern. A curbed well was directly in front of it, in what is 
now used as a travele-:' roadway. Other prominent citizens 
in the vicinity of the village, but not in it, were Captain 
John Wicks, John Strong, E[)hraim Walker, Timothy Hop- 
kins, Deacon Bailey, Adam and Abel Simmons, Captain 
Ebenezer and Esquire Charles Smith, Esquire Uri Doolittle, 
David Stiles, Fobes Head, Jonathan Head, Abiel Saxton, 
Luther Richards, and several others. The succeeding mer- 
chants at Paris Hill were Haywood & Blair Steele \: Wicks, 
Tompkins & Doolittle, Mott & Reynolds, Audi-ew Mills and 
Jesse E. Thomson. General McNiel was postmaster from 
time immemorial, but always had the business done by a dep- 



58 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

uty — usualh^ a merchant or inn-keeper. He was removed 
about 1830, under Jack.son's a<ltiiinistration, and Germond 
Mott was apjiointed in his place. In the earlier days the 
people were content with one mail per week, and that was 
carried by the post-rider on horseback, he delivering the 
Utica newspapers to subscribei'S on his route at their doors, 
carrying them in his saddle-bags, and the letter mail in his 
pockets. Letter postage was not ))repaid and the rates were 
graduated accordino; to the .distance ; for instance, to Utica, 6 
cents; to Albany, 12^ cents; to iSew York, iSf cents, and to 
Philadelphia, Boston or Detroit, 25 cents. There was but 
little money in those days, most of the ordinary businest: 
being done by barter or exchange, and often when a pooi 
man had a letter in the post-office coming from a distance, he 
had to wait some days or borrow the 25 cents to get it out 
This method of carrying the mail continued till about 1820 
when the post-rider changed his conveyance to a one-hors( 
Wagon, thus .securing higher pay and occasionally a passen- 
ger. Soon after a mail-stage was started with one pair o' 
horses, making two trips each way per week; afterward,' 
three, and finally daily trips each way with four horses. 

The habits, u.sages and implements of the early days wen 
(juite primitive. Such things as mowing-machines, rea]iers 
horse-rakes, threshing-machines, cultivators, plows with iror 
mold-boards, bob-sleighs, sewing-machines, knitting-machines 
washing-machines, or clothes-wringers, were entirely un 
known, and even unheard of. Pitchforks, scythes and axe: 
were made by the blacksmiths. We had in those days n( 
railroads, no canals, no telegraphs, no telephones, no photo 
graphs. Cook-stoves and carj)ets were not dreamed of; bug- 
gies and cutters were unknown; families rode in lumbei 
wagons and sleighs or sleds. If these were painted even, th( 
owners were con.sidered as being stuck up and proud. Mud 
of the riding was on horseback. Frequently, if a youn< 
man an-anged to take his lady-love out riding, he would corai 
on horseback. She would spi'ead a blanket on the horsi 
behind his .saddle, .seat herself on that, ))ut her arm caress 
ingly around his waist — for support — and enjoy the ride .sat 
isfactorily. As all the grain was threshed by hand, and al 
the fuel cut with the axe in winter for the year, farmers au( 
their sons found sufficient employment in the winter's season 
so that when evening came they were too much fatigued ti 
desire to spend it in loafing or lounging, either at the post 
office, store or tavern. The women, in addition to keeping 
the house in order and doing the necessary cooking an( 
washing, spent much of the summei- in spinning wool, an( 
the winter in spinning flax and tow. All the clothing of th( 



EARLY RECOLLECTIONS. 59 

Family was made in the faniih'. None of the churches had 
stoves until about 1820. He who could not keep warm with- 
out a fire in church, was considered as beino- deficient in holy 
zeal. The women, if delicate, were allowed to have a small 
tin foot-stove at their feet, with a dish of coals and hot em- 
bers in it, while the men saf muffled up and shivered. I 
have often known the clergyman to preach, in the winter, 
with warm woolen mittens on. In the old church that stood 
on the green, it was always customaiy for the congregation 
to stand duiing the prayers, and to sit during the singing; 
and in warm weather it was quite the custom of several to 
sleep during the sermon. The old chuich was used for a 
variety of purposes other than religious; all the town-meet- 
ings were held in it; also, caucuses of the different political 
parties, common school exhibitions, amateur theatrical per- 
formances, miscellaneous lectures, and many other things too 
numerous to particularize. But the old church was long 
since demolished, and not a stone was left to mark its loi'raer 
site. The old settlers who built it, and who for many years 
occupied its square, uncomfortable pews, in summer's heat 
and in winter's cold, with becoming devotion, have all passed 
away. Even the very doctrines which for many years were 
thundered forth from its high pulpit, earnestly, and no doubt 
sincerely promulgated by its occupants, Dr. Weeks and others, 
and as sincerely accepted and believed in by the mo.st of their 
hearers — even many of these doctrines have also passed away 
and are forgotten A new generation has arisen. Its mem- 
bers are the present actors in life. New ideas have been 
acquired, and newer, and we hope better, sentiments adopted. 
And still t^he end is not yet. Change, change, is the order of 
the world. But if we can perceive that a majority of these 
changes are for the better, that they indicate |)rogress and 
improvement, then, indeed, may we feel content. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THEEE YOUNG PARIS PIONEERS. 

In the spring of 1780, Jared Shepai-d and Eli Butler, of 
Middletown, Ct., came to the Sauquoit valley, and purchased 
a tract of land jointly (lots 8, 9, 2-i and 25 of Coxe's Patent, 
and part of lot 72, Bayard's Patent,) for their sons, and then 
returned to Connecticut. In the winter of 1789-90, their 
sons, John and Sylvester Butler and Asa Shepard, came on 
together and took possession of their fathers' purchase. A 
few rods west of where Charles K. Garlick now resides, and 
on the south side of the "Pioneer road" leading to Paris Hill, 
a spring gushes out, forming a little rivulet flowing north 
across the road and down the hillside into the "gulf," where 
it joins the Butler or Tucker Creek. Near this spring, rear- 
ing its mighty head, towering aloft, stands a giant elm, like a 
lone sentinel — the Pioneer's tree. On the banks of the little 
rivulet, beneath the shade of this historic tree, the " boj's" 
dug a cellar and there felled the first tree cut by man on the 
slope of the western hillside, and erected a substantial log- 
cabin, and commenced clearing off the land, Asa Shepard 
having his portion of the purchase set off to him, and the 
Butler brothers clearing the residue jointly, all living together 
in the cabin. The portion set off to Asa Shepard is where 
Wirt Macoinber now resides. He was born in Middletown, 
Ct., in 1770, being at the time he settled here nineteen years 
of age. Two years later, having arrived at his majority, and 
having erected a house on his farm in the meantime, he went 
back to Middletown, Ct., and married a Mi.ss Polly Smith, 
who returned with him to his wilderness home, where two 
daughters were born to tnem, Patty and Nancy. The old 
orchard on his place was the first that was set out in that 
section. He was a man of prodigious strength, and brought 
the young trees in a bundle on his back from Whitestown, 
through the woods by the " trail," before the road was cut 
out up the valley. About the year 1800, his wife and eldest 



THREE YOUNG PIONEERS. Gl 

^anohter died, when he sold the pioneer farm to his brother, 
Lemuel Shepard, and boucrht the land now the farm of M. M. 
3rray, at West Sauquoit, which he proceeded to clear off", 
when, in 1803, he sold it by contract to George Graham, 
iather of Lorenzo Graham, and deeded it to him, January 18, 
1808. The old log farm-house stood some twenty rods south 
)f the present house. He soon after manied the widow of 
ritus Gilbert, and took charge of her j)roi)erty, which con- 
sisted of the grist mill and a saw mill at the foot of the hill 
It South Sauquoit, near what is now Graham's u})per paper 
1)111, and her land extended up the hill west to the Marsh 
jlace. They lived in a little house near the creek. Near 
;he mill he built a distillery and malt hou.se, and then, about 
L813, built the house, top of the mill hill on the main road, 
the Reed place,} where two of the widow Gilbert's boys, 
Siram and Andrus, set out the two elm trees, now full sized 
md so much admired. Some years later he became bank- 
rupt, and his uncle, "'Joe" Shepard, put him in jail. In the 
neantime his father, Jared Shepard, came into the country 
md bought the "Priest Coe farm," adjoining on the west 
,he farm of Judge Sanger, in New Hartford. After his 
ather's death, Asa went on to this farm, l)uying out the 
leirs, where he remained five or six years, when he sold out 
io Judge Sanger and "Priest" Coe, and bought the Henry 
IJrane farm, east of Chadwick's, on the south line of New 
Hartford, lately the Cloyes farm — the scene of the mysterious 
l^uinu murder. Here he lived several years, bringing up his 
)wn and the widow Gilbert's boys, when he exchansfed the 
farm with Abner Brownell for a farm in Volney, now 
Schroeppel, Oswego County, to which he removed. Again 
misfortune overtook him. During the building of the Erie 
Canal, he contracted to excavate a considerable section, and 
had brought together his gang of laborers and built a store- 
bouse, filled with flour, pork, grain and supplies, to carrv on 
the work, which caught fire and all was destroyed without a 
dollar of insurance. To add to his misfortune, the excava- 
tion which he had contracted, supposing it to be earth simply, 
turned out to be mostly rock beneath the surface, requiring 
to ]je blasted at great expense, and he was again bankrupted. 
Previous to going to Volney, he built a furnace at Westmore- 



62 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

land, at the raising oi which he was injured by a timber fall- 
ing on him — an Indian also on the timber. He was a stirring 
business man, owning at different times many farms in Paris, 
and was much respected for his strict integrit}'. He was an 
active Free-Mason, "made" in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, in 
1801, under the Mastership of Judge Sanger. The family 
which he brought up consisted of the widow Gilbert's four 
boys, Hiram, Andrus, Grove and Titus, Jr., and his own chil- 
dren, Patty, Nancy, Asa, Ira, Jaied, William, Martha and 
Frederick. 

Of the Gilbert boys, Andrus alone survives ; of his own 
children, Ira, William, Martha and Fiederick. Ira resides at 
Wampsville, and Frederick lives on the old place in Oswego 
County, where his father, Asa Shepard, one of the " three boy 
pioneers," passed away, in 1850, at the advanced age of 80 
years. S3dvester Butler was the first of the trio to go, dying 
in 1805, aged 38. John Butler, the last of the " three boy 
pioneers," survived his old companion of the first log-cabin 
(Asa Shepard) about one 3'ear, and went to his rest in 1851. 

Lemuel Shepard, the youngest brother of Asa, was born in 
1772. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed as a tanner, and 
served seven years. He then married Ruth Savage, a cousin 
of Stephen Savage, and at the age of 22, with his wife, came 
to the Sauquoit valley, (1794,) and settled on the Cooledge 
farm, where the}' had three children. In 1800, he purchased 
the old pioneer farm of his brother Asa. Here he continued 
farming until about 45 years of age, when his health tailing, 
he served as constable several years, and in the year 1827 hf 
passed away at the age of 55, his widow surviving him foui 
years. Their children were Albert, Sophia, Sarah, Norman 
Reuben, Merrit, Edward, Lucetta, Abigal and Azel, of whom 
three alone survive: Norman, Edward and Azel. After the 
death of his father, Norman remained on the old farm twc 
years, working the farm and settling up the estate, when 
about the year 1829, the old pioneer farm was sold to Georo-e 
MacombGr. Norman Shepard married Betsey (Elizabeth) 
Gilbert, the second daughter of Theodore Gilbert, born in 
the old red house that stood near the entrance to what is 
now the Valley Cemetery, July 18, 1803. After the farm 
was sold, they removed to Palermo, Oswego county, then a 



THREE YUUXG PIONEERS. 03 

lew couutiy, where his mother died four years later. He 
las ever siace resided iu that county, and latterly for many 
'^ears at Fulton, where he and his wife, well advanced in 
^ears, he 80 and she 77, surrounded by their chddren and 
[randchildren, iu pleasant old age, " hand in hand, go down 
he hill together." 

George Macomber, who purchased the farm, was the eldest 
on of Captain George Macomber, and came with his father 
oUtica from Taunton, Mass., in 1797. His father went back 
oi- the remainder of the family, and was gone a year or two, 
saving George to shift for himself Ca))tain Macomber had 
)reviously followed the sea, but concluded to leave so hazard- 
>us a pursuit, and with his family of ten children try his 
brtunes in a new country, choosing the occupation of gar- 
lening. His house and garden were situated at the lower 
Hid of Genesee street, below Post's. Here he died April 5, 
L813, in his 62d year — his wife surviving him but four days. 
3is daughter Susan married Abner Brownell, the pioneer 
[uanufacturer. Of his six sons, George, Levi, Stephen, Horace, 
Jalvin E. and David O., one alone survives, the venerable 
Oalvio E. Macomber, now in his 88th year, with his aged 
wife residing in the old Presbj^terian parsonage at West Sau- 
[{uoit. He was born in Taunton, Mass., January 15, 1793, 
and came with his father to Utica in 1798. He married 
Lucinda Merris, September 24, 1827. He resided some years 
in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he was made 
a Mason in 1816, but most of the time he has resided at Sau- 
quoit. For many years he was the " commercial traveler" 
for Benjamin Brandreth, the millionaire pill manufacturer, 
recently deceased. About the year 1850, he " bought out" 
the store of Davis & Day, at West Sauquoit, and carried on 
the mercantile business a few years. He has been a life-long 
member of the Presbyterian Church, and, April 2, ISH, was 
elected Elder, which office he still holds. He was one of the 
original eleven charter members of Sauquoit Lodge, F. and 
A. M., (the only other survivor being Dr. L. Bishop,) and was 
Master of the Lodge in 1853; since which time he has been 
Chaplain. His wife, Lucinda Merris, was born April 25, 
1804, and they have lived together more than half a century. 
The family la}^ claim to have descended from one of the com- 



(34* HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

pany that came over in the Mayflower, and cherish as a sacred 
relic a ring bearing the name of Mary Standish. Horace, the 
fourth son, lived for many years at Willowvale, where he died 
a few years since. David 0., the youngest, died more recently 
in Europe. George, the eldest, who purchased the old pioneer 
Shepard farm in 1829, lived there the remainder of his life, 
much respected by his townsmen, a thorough gentleman of 
the " old school," and went to his rest a few years since. 
Some cf his sons went to California during the early gold 
excitement, where they still reside. His daughter Caroline, 
mairied to ex-Senator Hon. S. S. Lowery, resides at Utica, 
while two other daughters reside at the old homestead with 
the youngest son, Wirt Macomber, who, at his father's death, 
succeeded to the old pioneer farm of Asa Shepard. 

A BEAR HUNT. 

This farm was the scene of the last bear hunt in the valley. 
George W. Mosher, a son of Josiah Moi^her, the old Revo- 
lutionary soldier, who settled in about one-half mile north of 
the Shepard farm, started a bear on their lot, who led off in 
this direction pursued by him and his dogs. The Shepard 
boys and others joined in the chase, and at a point up the 
brook, southwest of the Shepard house, the bear took refuge 
in a thick clump of young hemlocks, where he was soon sur- 
rounded and brought to bay. The dogs dashed in, and before 
lono- drove him out of his cover, near the spot where one of 
the hunters was on guard, loaded gun in hand, but so sudden 
was the rush of the bear that the hunter, astonished at the 
sudden onslaught, forgot to fire his gun, and instead, clubbing 
it dealt the bear a stroke over the head, thus disabling his 
crun, and the bear, momentarily stunned, but recovering almost 
instantly, made a rush at his opponent, who turned and fled. 
The others, fortunately close at hand, poured a volley at short 
rano-e into the shaggy brute that proved fatal, much to the 
relief ol the pursued and thoroughly frightened hunter with 
his disabled and useless gun. Thus ended the last bear hunt 
in the valley. 

John and Sylvester Butler continued working together, 
clearing off their portion of the original tract, for six years 



THREE YOUNG PIONEERS. 65 

and until about 1795, and had each erected frame houses just 
alike — -Sylvester the house where Charles K. Garlick now re- 
sides and John beyond the Shepard place, up the western hill- 
side, where Mr. Marker now lives, when their father, Eli 
Butler, paid them a visit and divided the land, giving a deed 
to each for their portion. He was so much pleased with the 
Sauquoit valley that upon his return he at once sold out his 
valuable farm in Middletown, Ct., and with farming utensils 
and sup|>]ies in a train of eight yoke of oxen, came on to 
New Hartford, where he purchased the beautiful farm south 
of the village, now known as the Morgan Butler farm, where 
he lived and died. He was a prominent man there, and the 
year of his arrival, 1795, became a member of old Amicable 
Lodge, No. 25, F. and A. M., of which Judge Sanger was then 
Master. 

Eli Butler was born in Middletown, Ct., in 1741, and mar- 
ried Rachel Stocking. Their children were, A.shbel, Sylves- 
ter, Lucy, John, Rachel, Patty, Chloe, Sally, P'^rse}^ Clara and 
Eli, Jr. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and a 
Captain in the Cavalry. He died at New Hartford, April 19, 
1802, aged 61, his wife surviving him three years, and de- 
parted her life September 1, 1805, aged 61 years. 

Their son, Sylvester Butler, died in 1805, aged 38 years. 
John Butler, born March 28, 1769, was married to Hannah 
Todd, of Wallingford, Ct., March 12, 1797, and in time erected 
the house where James Eiffe now resides, where he ever 
afterwards lived. On the little spring-bi'ook near by, he 
built a distillery which he carried on successfully for many 
years. The old distillery building, now converted into a barn, 
stands in the lot east of the present homestead barns. He 
also carried on his farm extensively and was a prominent 
man in the town during life. He was one of the original 
stockholders of the old Quaker factory. He was one of the 
first trustees of the Presbyterian Church at West Sauquoit at 
its organization, January 8, 1810, with Joseph Howard and 
Eliphalet Sweeting, who composed the board. Gardner 
Avery was chairman of the meeting and James Dixson was 
the clerk. He was identified with the society durino- his 
lifetime and took an active part in all the educational and 
industrial projects during the growth of the village. 



OG HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARISi 

His children were, Eliza, John, Milton, Chauncey S., Ami 
T., Alanson A., Lucy M., Julia, Henrietta and George H. 

At the advanced age of 82, John Butler, the last survivor 
of the three pioneer lads who built their cabin in the shade 
of the historic elm, after a well spent life, honored and re- 
spected by all, went to his rest. May 16, 1851. His wife sur- 
vived him five years, enteiing into rest April 23, 1856, at the 
age of 82. Three of their sons survive : Hon. Chauncy S, 
Butler, of West Sauquoit, Ami T.. who resides at East Sauquoit, 
and George H. Butler, of Richfield Springs. 

John Milton Butler was an early merchant at East Sauquoit, 
and erected the house, afterwards the residence of Dea. Cu)'- 
tiss. He died May 6, 1824. Eliza Butler, who was born 
January 17, 1798, married William W. Hickox, who was also 
a merchant at East Sauquoit, and a partner of Hobart Gi'aves, 
Jr. He died August 21, 1871, aged 74. Alanson A. Butler 
was born February 16, 1808, and married Mar}' A. Mosher, 
daughter of Abel Mosher, by whom he had two children : 
Henry A., (deceased) and Julia A., wife of E. Z. Wright, of 
Utica. His wife died April 11, 1838, aged 28. In March, 
1841, he married Sally, daughter of John Chadwick, by whom 
he had one son, George.' Alanson A. Butler resided in the i 
"old red pioneer house" (now Markee's) during his lifetime, 
and was a model farmer, active and energetic, and a great 
favorite in the community, beloved by all, and died in the 
prime of life, September 21, 1851, aged 43. His widow sur- 
vives him, residing with her son George, at Willowvale. 
Hon. Chauncey S. Butler has always resided in Sauquoit; a 
prominent man in business and society ; in early life a sur- 
veyor; was Colonel of the old Cavalry regiment, and mem- 
ber of Assembly in 1852. He married Betsey, daughter of 
Abel Mosher, May 0, 1826, who died March 29, 1836, aged 32, 
leaving three children, who survive, residing in Utica: John 
Milton Butler, the banker, Charles A., of the firm of Hoyt & 
Butler, and Elizabeth, wife of P. V. Rogers, the banker. 
October 3, 1844, he married Julia Sherrill, of New Hartford, 
who died August, 1878, by whom he had a daughter, J. 
Henrietta, who survies. 

The road that leaves the village a few rods north of the 
old Savage stand and intersects the Oxford turnpike north of 



THREE YOUNG PIONEERS. 67 

Paris Hill, may well be called the " pioneer road," six of the 
first settlers having located thereon, and all but one remain- 
ing as founders of the town. As the hillside is ascended, 
first Sylvester Butler, then Asa Shepard, then John Butler. 
On the summit of the hill in the woods may be seen on the 
north side of the road a clearing, cut out by a Mr. Hinman, 
at that early day, but soon after abandoned ; next beyond 
and through the woods on the north side of the road is the 
old homestead of Major Royce, the first settler of the town, 
and on the south side of the road opposite, is the old home- 
stead of John Wicks. Many of the old historical trees of the 
town have been cut down, but the magnificent elm on the 
south side of this road, a little west of the old homestead of 
Sylvester Butler, (now Garlick's) still proudly rears it head, 
thus far having escaped the hand of vandalism, and withstood 
the storms of a ceatury. May it long wave — a landmark to 
mark the spot where the three pioneer lad<, John an 1 Syl- 
vester Butler and Asa Shepard built their cabin in the 
winter of 1789-90. 

Many of the old pioneer farms have passed out of the old 
families, and not a few are now occupied by foreigners who 
have settled in within a few years, principally Welsh, Irish, 
and some Germans, The Sylvester Butler farm became the 
home of Joseph Garlick, who came from England many years 
ago, and dying a few years since after a long life of useful- 
ness; the farm is now occupied by his grandson, Charles K. 
Garlick, while his sou Thomas occupies the Henry Crane 
farm at East Sauquoit, where he has erected an extensive 
• cheese factory. Hugh Garlick, (a brother of Joseph) the old 
stone mason, purchased the John Chadwick farm on Coe's 
Hill, feast of the Simeon Coe farm) where he lived and died, 
his son-in-law, Geoige Moyer, succeeding to the farm. The 
John Butler farm is owned and occupied by James Eitfe, who 
came from Ireland to the Sauquoit valley in 1848, working at 
first for Orange Barber, above Clay ville, He afterwards lived 
some years near Clinton, and finally a few years since pur- 
chased the John Butler fai-m. Other emigrants from the 
" Emerald Isle" came in about that time and settled in Paris, 
and became permanent citizens identified with the industries 
-and improvements of the town of their adopted homes. Pat- 



68 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

rick Sullivan, the well remembered blacksmith, came in 184i2 : 
Larry Gag-en in 184'0 ; Thomas Collins and William Lynch in. 
1847; James Brannigan and John Fletcher in 184)8; John 
and Michael Dempsey, the former in 18-i6, now residing on 
the Dr. Spaulding Pierce faim, and the latter in 1848; aad 
soon after many others. Michael McCabe, from Ireland, came 
later, and purchased the old Budlong farm, (originally the 
pioneer farm of Squire Griffin) north of East Sauquoit, and 
has since purchased the pioneer farm adjoining him on the 
north, (in New Hartford) owned first by Henry Crane, Sr., 
then Asa Shepard, Abner Brownell, " Barefoot" Randall, and 
lately known as the Cloyes farm, the house built by Crane 
being destroyed by fire a few months since, and rendered 
notorious as the scene of the mysterious Quinn murder. 

Many Welsh settlers occupy the pioneer farms in the south- 
west part of the town near Tassel Hill, all thrifty, industrious 
farmers and valuable citizens. Francis and William Bowers 
and Charles Marker, Germans, each occupy farms on the old 
pioneer road embraced in the original purchase of Butler and 
Shepard, and William Shepard, (English) also in the same 
purchase, whose farm is on the cross-road north of James 
Eifi'e's. Mr. Bray (Irish) occupies the east portion of the old 
pioneer farm of William Babbitt, adjoining Crawford Throop's 
on the old Moyer road. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT — THEODORE GILBERT, THE VALLEY 
PIONEER. 

In the winter of 1789-90, Theodore Gilbert, Sr., with his 
wife, Hannah Chapin, each in the 39th 3'^ear of their age, with 
their five daughters, the eldest 18, the youngest an infant 
and with two of their three sons — mere lads — entered a 
sleigh behind a span of fine-bred, iron-gray horses, and drove 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT. 69 

•out of the old town of Hartford, Ct., and bade adieu to home 
^nd friends, tlieir destination being the "far West," the wil- 
derness of then Herkimer County, N. Y., their futui-e selected 
home being the valley of the Sauquoit. Their route, after 
crossing the Hudson River on the ice at Albany., lay up the 
Mohawk valley through the settled towns to the German 
JFlats, thence " over the hill " to the Sauquoit, through the 
primitive forest. Following the old Indian trail and the 
" blazed" trees, they ai-rived at last, early in March, and went 
into camp at a point about three-eighths of a mile south of 
the present location of the Presbyterian Church in West 
Sauquoit, at that time a dense wilderness. The father and 
his two sons, Titus and AUyn, at once commenced the erec- 
tion of a log-house, opposite where was afterward erected the 
JBurning Spring Hotel, The Burning Spring on his lot was 
■discovered bj' Mr. Gilbert a few days after his arrival, and 
by inverting a funnel over the spring, he ignited the gas at 
the small orifice. The analysis of this water is almost iden- 
tical with the Richfield Spring. 

Theodore, the other son, a sturdy lad just entering his 
"teens," followed them with a yoke of oxen and a sleigh con- 
tainincj the household goods and the rude agricultural tools 
and implements, and with the assistance of a hired man, who, 
from his age and experience, was entrusted with the neces- 
sary funds to defray expenses, driving before them a small 
hei-d of cai-efully selected young cattle, the promise of a 
future daii3\ The magnitude of this undertaking can be 
appreciated when is considered the tendency of cattle driven 
through an old, settled, well-fenced country to dash wildly 
through every open gateway, and into every crossroad, while 
at the best much of this, their route, lay through a new 
countiy not much fenced, and the latter part of the route 
entirely through a dense wilderness, guided by a trail and 
" blazed" trees alone. Td add to the difficulties of young 
Theodore, the trusted hired man turned out to be a dissolute 
fellow, who drank and gambled at the " settlements," wasting 
valuable time, and the money was all expended long before 
reaching the German Flats. Much anxiety prevailed among 
the arrived poition of the family as day after day passed 
away beyond the time of the looked-for arrival of the young 



70 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. i 

drover, who at length, to the great joy and relief of all, putJ ! 
in an appearance safe and sound, without the loss ot a hoof. 
Ex])lanations followed, upon which the indignant head of the 
family promptly discharged the much-needed but faithless 
hired man, who thereupon struck a bee-liue back to the 
settlements. \ 

The pioneer of the valley, Theodore Gilbert, with the aid 
of his three boys, soon erected a comfortable shelter for the 
first family m the valley, (if not in the town.) and also for 
the first herd of cattle and span of horses. The only log- 
house other than his, erected the same year by Phineas Kel- 
logg some half mile north of the j)resent village, was before 
long abandoned by Mr. Kellogg, who concluded to settle in 
Bridgewater. The battle of life in the wilderness was fully 
inaugurated, the land cleared up, and as other settlers came 
in around them year after year, the need of a grist mill 
became apparent, for they were foiced to carry their corn to 
Clinton to be ground. Titus, the eldest son, a millwright by 
trade, as soon as praticable commenced the erection of a mill 
at the foot of the hill, near where is now the railroad cross- 
ing at Graham's upper paper mill, and wdth the assistance of 
D. Sheldon Marsh, a millwright just then arrived from Mid- 
dletown, Ct., the first grist mill on the stream using burr- 
stones was in due time completed and put in operation by 
Titus — in company with a Mr. Norton, a miller — who, how- 
ever, was not destined to Idng enjoy the fruit of his skill 
and ingenuity, as he died August 12, 1803, leaving a wife 
and four boys, Hiiam, Andrus, Grove and Titus, Jr. The old 
mill was destroyed by fire in 1837, and the new one erected 
on the site is now silent and falling into decay. His widow 
married Asa Shepard, who, in 1813, erected the house at the 
top of the hill, where the road to the mill turns off from the 
main road, and has since been altered and beautified ; but 
perhaps the most striking feature of that old homestead are 
the two magnificent elms set out b^' the lads Hiram and 
Andrus some seventy years ago. 

D. Sheldon Marsh, the veteran millwright, who married 
Lydia, one of the five daughters who came in the sleigh in 
1790, constructed or assisted in the building of most of the 
water-wheels on the stream, his last work being the con- 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT. 71 

structioii of the wheels at the erection of S. A. Millard's 
scj^the works at Clayville, soon after which, with his aged 
wife, he removed to Penn Yau, N. Y., to pass the evening of 
life with their daughter, Mrs. A. F. Oliver. Mrs. Lydia 
Marsh survived her husband, and died March 29, 1860, aged 
77 years. Concerning her death, the Penn Yau paper says : 
" The deceased was a native of Hartford, Ct., and while a 
child, (seven years old,) in 1790, she accompanied her father's 
family to the county of Oneida, in this State, and located at 
the place since known as the village of Sauquoit. Here she 
waded through the trials and difficulties incident to a new 
country. Here she became the wife of the excellent D. 
Sheldon Marsh, Sr., and the mother of Mrs. Oliver and the 
late and lamented Daniel S. Marsh, Jr. Her two children 
having become residents of the place, the parents were drawn 
hither some years ago. Mrs. Marsh saw both her husband 
and .son laid away in our village cemeter3',and now at a good 
old age her remains ai'e deposited by their side, in the assured 
hope of a glorious resui'rection. She was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church for forty years, and lived and died a 
Christian." 

Old Father Gilbert was a consistent Christian and church- 
member, and with his family, in those early days, and before 
the erection of the chui-ch at Sauquoit, regularly attended 
service at Norwich Corners; but like most of those early set- 
tlers, in the arduous labor incident to cleai'ing oif the forests, 
and bringing the soil into tillable con(^lition, found it neces- 
sary to call to his aid more or less of good old New England 
rum. He perhaps enlarged on the custom somewhat ; at all 
events, the good old brothers of the church deemed it their 
duty to counsel with him in as delicate a manner as possible, 
and to that end appointed Brother John Howard, the father 
of Deacon Joseph Howard, as the most adroit diplomat for the 
interview. Bi'other Gilbert got wind of the affair, and when 
he saw approaching his house, across lots, the worth}'^ inter- 
viewer dres.sed up in his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, knew 
that the crisis was at hand. His tirst impulse was to fortify 
himself; hence he thrust the fiii)-iron into the glowing coals 
of the open fire-place, and set at once to comiwunding the 
coial and then favorite beverage, a mug of flip, composed of 



72 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

beer, mm and suoar — sometimes an egg — in certain propor- 
tions, into which, when united, the heated flip-iron was 
plunged, hissing, scorching and bubbling up with a steaming 
aroma, calculated to gladden the heart ; the custom being to 
drink while hot, in turn, from the mug. To pour it out into 
cups was against the tradition, and ruined the flavor, besides 
the iJrinking from the same nmg was a strong bond of good 
fellowship. Good flip requires beer as an ingredient, but not 
too much of it. The early settlers for a long time were 
greatly distressed for want of this flip requisite, until Deacon 
Joseph Howard came to the relief, and solved the difticulty 
by erecting a brewery near the old Paris Furnace, and nearly 
opposite the present location of the Presbyterian Church at 
Clayville, and those old pioneers were made happy. Father 
Howard at length arrived at Brother Gilbert's on his temper- 
ance mission, and was ushered in just in the nick of time ; 
the hot iron was at that very instant taking the bath of the 
mug. Hospitality required the invitation to the guest to 
join, while the keen, cold autumn afternoon's walk furni-shed 
a plausible excuse for accepting. The flip was pronounced 
excellent, but Brother Gilbert thought he could make another 
even Letter, and under a running Are of conversation 
shrewdly avoiding any lead towards the expected subject^ 
another mug was soon steaming between them, and voted by 
Brother Howaid the best yet, (there was very little beer in 
that one.) Brother Gilbert prudently denied himself and 
drank light, and as mug after mug disappeared, so did the 
recollection of the prime object of the call, and the "commit- 
tee rose" and was a.ssisted home without coming to the point. 
In his report to the Church, he declared that he had [)er- 
formed the duty assigned him, and " Brother Gilbert had 
made everything satisfactory." The particulars, however, of 
this first tem)terance movement in the valley finall}^ leaked 
out. 

As a salve to the feelings of the worthy descendants of 
those two pioneer bon-vivants, and that the descendants of 
others of that period may not take on any airs, it is proper to 
record that their case was by no means exceptional. The 
day-book before me of Judge James Orton, who kept the 
store and tavern on the site of the present hotel, at West 



SETTLING SAUQIIOIT. 73 

Sauquoit, covering the years of 1806 to 1808, contain on each 
page, charges to sixteen to eighteen of those early settlers, at 
least twelve of which, on an average, are for " tire- water" of 
some description. On the particular page now opened to at 
random there are fifteen charges to different individuals of the 
old first families, fourteen of which contain either brandy, 
rum or rectified whisky. The one bright exception on the 
page (buying simply harndess groceries) was Asa Shepard, 
the distiller, who made the whisky for them and of course 
had an abundance at home. With advancing age, brother G_ 
spent part of his time with a married daughter in Oswego 
County, where, in one of his visits, the old pioneer and hero 
of the Revolution passed away, August 11, 1826, in the 75th 
year of age. His surviving sons, Theodore a.-id Allyn, were 
farmers and dain builders, constructing many of the numer- 
ous dams on the stream. Allyn finally went to Oswego 
County, and died in 1842, aged 61 years; Theodore remained 
in Sauquoit during life. His farm, which he located and 
" cleared off," was situated at the head of the valley, between 
the Holman City branch and the main Sauquoit Creek, on 
the high ground or foot hill, behind which the towering pin- 
nacles terminate the broad part of the valley, and is now the 
ground of the Sauquoit Valley Cemetery, from which a fine 
view of the valley and the distant highlands of Marcy and 
Floyd is obtained. He commenced clearing off a site for, and 
erected his house in 1800, into which, (" the old red house") 
with his wife and infant child, Fanny, he moved in 1801. 
The house was located near the entrance to the cemetery, 
about half between the highway and the receiving vault. 
He was married September 8, 1800, to Betsey Cale, who 
came from Middletown, Ct., in 1799, with her relative, D. 
Sheldon Marsh. Her father was a bold and skillful mariner, 
captain and owner of his ship. She was early orphaned, and 
in a thrilling manner. Captain Cale had sailed a ship many 
years, was a thorough seaman and a kind hearted Christian, 
but entertained an unconcealed contempt for the super- 
stitious notions of sailors, especially their belief that Friday 
was an unlucky day, fraught with peril to those who com- 
mence on that day any great undertaking. To demonstrate 
the absurdity of such an idea, he built a new and staunch 



74 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ship of the most approved model, laid the keel on Friday, 
launched her on Friday, named her Friday, took in both 
cargo and ship's stores on Friday, and to cap the climax, 
tripped anchor and set sail on Friday. 

Many of the sailors, and all of their wives and sweet- 
hearts, had great misgivings regarding the matter, but 
their great confidence in the proven skill and ability of the 
captain overrode all. Several days out, the ship was spoken 
by an homeward-bound craft during a terrific storm, dis- 
abled, and laboring hard in the heavy seas, but owing to the 
severity of the gale, no assistance could be rendered. She 
was never heard from more. No spai, vestige or relic of her 
fate ever reached the shore. The gallant Captain Cale and 
his brave crew all went down together. After a suitable 
time, to confirm beyond a doubt their sad fate, a funeral ser- 
mon was preached in the old village church, the widows and 
orphans, forty in number, seated together in a body. 

When a little girl, and soon after the war of the Revo- 
lution, on her way to school, in company with another girl of 
about the same age, they were suddenly startled by the clat- 
tering hoofs of approaching horsemen ; a glance revealed a 
squad of mounted officers dashing toward them; wild with 
fright they fled .screaming to the hotel near at hand, at which 
the ofiicers intending to halt, reached about the same time. 
The leading ofticer, dismounting, approached the terrified 
little girls, and in a few soothing words, quieted their fears 
and assuring them that no harm would befall them, gave to 
each of them a penny. That kind-hearted officer was the 
immortal Washington, who, with his staff*, was then on the 
way to New York. 

In the fall of ISOl, Mr. Gilbert raised the frame for an ad- 
dition in the rear of his dwelling, and one day before it was 
covered, he chanced to kill a fine buck deer, which he hung 
up to the open rafters to place it out of the reach of the 
wolves, then numerous in that section. In the evening his 
wife, upon opening the back door, was transfixed with horror 
to see the glaring eyes of a ])anther, like balls of fire glowing 
up among the rafters, helping himself to venison. Explain- 
ing in a word the situation to Mr. Gilbert, he seized from the 
hooks where it hung, his loaded gun, and resting it over h e 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT. 75. 

shoulder, guiding his aim in the darkness by the fiery eye- 
balls of that dread of the Ainericati forest, blazed away. 
With a blood-curdling yell and a leap, the " varmint" landed 
at the thi-eshold — dead. He was one of the largest of the 
species, measuring nearly seven feet in length and weighing 
more than oiie hundred pounds. 

The early settlers, and until the Paris furnace went into 
blast in 1801, were wont to " slash" down the giant forest 
trees, tailing them in immense wind-rows, and then burning 
them where they lay, to clear the ground, affording them no 
revenue for the magnificent timber, except the ashes, which 
were gathered up and sold for the purpose of manufacturing 
pot and peail-ash. 

The fortunate founding of the furnace was a God-send to 
those at that period about to clear up their farms, as it 
afforded them a market for charcoal, into which all the timber 
could be converted by charring in the coal-pits. Theodore 
Gilbert thus converted all the timber on his farm. The burn- 
ing of a coal pit requires great skill and care, with constant 
attention night and day ; any relaxation of vigilance might 
result in ashes instead of charcoal. In the fall of 1804, far 
into the night, a terrific storm swept over the valley. The 
night attendant of the coal-pit on our pioneer's farm, awed by 
the magificent grandeur of the tempest, and the war of the 
elements, while listening to the crashing of the falling trees, 
the twisting and breaking of the huge branches as they were 
hurled through the air, soon above the fearful din, distin- 
guished another .sound, nearer and nearer approaching; it 
was the blood-curdling yell of a panther ; disturbed by the 
storm from his lair on the " Dry Lots," he came bounding 
down directly toward =: the coal-pit; there was no avenue of 
escape, and no weapon but his axe, which in sheer desperation 
he seized and awaited the coming rush ; a few more leaps 
and the panther would be upon him. A dash into the smoke 
of the charcoal pit would shield him, but that was only death 
in another form. A few minutes, even, in that mephitic 
vapor, and all would be over; nearer and plainer the infernal 
yells; human nature could not longer stand it ; holding his 
axe — and his breath — he leaped into the deadly fumes, his 
last look of earth revealing the fiery eye-balls of the yelling 



76 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

horror; towards the coal pit at a bound, froot of it, past it — 
thank God ! on towards the western hills without a halt. 
Saved by a touch and go, Baxter Gage leaped out of the 
smoke, and breathed freer in the fresh air, and at the fast re- 
ceding yells of the " varmint," even now far up the western 
slope. A minute or two had covered the whole; a lifetime 
did not efface the terrible scene from his memory. 

Late in December, 1808, Alfred Beckwith, another work- 
man, started a wolf near the western boundary of the farm; 
hastening to the house, he seized gun and ammunition, and 
procuring the assistance of Lyman Avery — a younger brother 
oi Colonel Gardiner Avery — who lived close b}^ they to- 
gether took the track and pursued the wolf The chase led 
them far away over the hills to the southwest, and through 
and beyond the big Sangerfield swamp, overhauling their 
game near what is now Poolville. They were gone three 
days, and the excessive fatigue and exposure through the 
deep snow told so fearfully on Mr. Avery that he fell into 
decline. He went back to the old New England home, hoping 
his native air might prove beneficial, but to no avail ; he did 
not long survive. 

About this period, and towards the close of winter, Mr, 
Gilbert and his wife went back to Connecticut to revisit the 
homes of their childhood ; their visit at length nearl}' com- 
pleted, a thaw unexpectedly set in, and news reached them 
that the ice on the river was becoming hourl}' unsafe to cross. 
No time to be lost. They must hasten their departure, reach 
and cross the river while a crossing was yet possible, or suffer 
a delay of weeks, which would bring them home too late for 
the spring's work. Starting at once, they traveled all night, 
and pushed on the next day, although it was Sunday. The 
Connecticut " blue laws" were rigid, and they strictly forbade 
traveling on the Sabbath. Nearing a village where he was 
pretty certain of being arrested, he arranged his wife on the 
staw in a reclining position at the bottom of the sleigh, and 
covered her tenderly with blankets as if she was ill, mean- 
time giving her her cue, he then took his position, standing in 
the front end of the sleigh, and dashed into the village where, 
as anticipated, he was soon halted and surrounded by the 
Select-men ; glat;cing back at his wife, who just then made a 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT. 77 

feint of raising the blanket, he shouted to her in an alarmed 
tone, and besought her not to uncover her face, as pei-haps some 
of these gentlemen (the Select-men) had never had the small- 
pox, and it would be a sin to expose them to it. At the word 
small-pox, a general sciamble and a rush, away from the 
sleigh, took place, and with frantic gestures they shouted to 
him to drive on, run his hoises, anything, anywhere, rather 
than to longer halt in that village; he obej^ed orders, reached 
and crossed the liver, none too soon, however, and was safe_ 
Monf.ay morning, with his fine team, of which he was 
justly proud, sufficiently i;efreshed, he started out of Albany 
and up the valley. A freeze during the night had checked 
the thaw, and in the keen, crisp morning, the sleighing was 
capital, and his spiiited team felt their oats; soon, a couple 
ot city bloods, with a spanking team and light sleigh, dashed 
up and swung out to pass him, but his team, on the instant 
caught the inspiration and the word and flew ahead ; this 
was lare fun for the young blades — ^^just what they wanted. 
They would give the countryman a brush and sail past him. 
They reckoned without their host. His team soon left them 
far in the i-ear. Halting them for a breathing spell at the 
next tavern, his wufe repaired to the sitting-room, and while 
arranging for the comfort of his team under the shed, his late 
contestants arrived, and after they had looked over and ad- 
mired their conquerors, one of them, glancing keeidy at Mr. 
Gilbert, asked suddenly "if he had come straight from 
home ?" " Yes, quite recentlj^ From my former home." 
" Well, if A^ou have come straight from home, you must have 
got badly warped on the way." Although then in the prime 
of life, he had a decided stoop; he was very "round shoul- 
dered," and " Uncle Thodie," in relating the story, said he 
saw the point, and they went in directly to see the flip-iron. 
Years have glided by; the old farm passed into other hands,and 
Theodore Gilbert, the Sauquoit valley pioneer, consistent Chris- 
tian, kind neighbor, genial joker with every one, and always 
a pleasant word foi all, at the age of 72, July 7, 1850, went 
to his rest. His wife survived him seventeen years, living to 
see her descendants to the fifth generation, and loved by all 
in her pleasant old age, she gently fell asleep, February 2, 
1867, aged 87 years. 



78 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Their children : Fanny, born 1801, married George Smith, 
removed to Smithport, Pa„ died 1862; Betsey, born 1803, 
married Norman Shepard, resides at Fulton, N. Y.; Hannah, 
born 1805, married Horace Rice, removed to Ripley jHill, 
Chautauqua County, N. Y., died 1878 ; Harriet, born 1807, 
married Solomon Rogers, resides at Sauquoit ; Theodore Cale, 
born 1810, married Rosanna Lewis, resides at South Sau- 
quoit; Gaylord Gilbert, born 1819, died 1822; Lyman, (How- 
ard,) adopted son, born 1815, died of small pox 1835. 

On the 27th day of Februar}^ 1851, the Sauquoit Valley 
Cemetery Association was organized at a meeting of the citi- 
zens of the valley, held at the HoUister (now Murray) House 
in Clayville. William Knight was chosen Chairman, and 
Amos Rogers, Secretary. Twelve Trustees were elected, from 
which the following officers were selected : A. B. Bligh, Presi- 
dent; G. M. Brownell, Vice-President; N. W. Moore, Treas- 
urer; Amos Rogers, Secretary. On the 9th of April, 1851, 
the Trustees made choice of the pioneer's old home for the 
cemetery. The following day the first interment took place : 
Eliza Mould, born in Lyng, England, aged 22 years, a sister 
of ex-Supervisor William F. Mould. The formal consecra- 
tion of the cemetery took place October 16, 1851, the address 
being delivered by the Rev. Spencer M. Rice, rector of St 
John's Church, Clayville, in which he aptly said : "And what 
spot of greater natural beauty could have been found for a 
purpose such as that for which this has been chosen, or more 
capable of being highly ornamented, than this which spreads 
itself in such beautiful variations around us? Laid out, not as 
some times from the nature of the soil they have necessarily 
to be, upon the uppermost summit of the bleakest and highest 
hills, exposed with its every tender shrub and flower 3'ou 
plant ^o the unobstructed furj' of the winter winds, but lying 
here, in the very bosom of a thickly populated and most lovely 
valley, with the waters of the beautiful Sauquoit sweeping 
by, in full view on the one side, and sending up even here 
the echo of moving wheels, and the murmur of surrounding 
industry, while upon this side a more gentle stream pours its 
bright fountains at our very feet ; adding another fresh and 
inestimable variety to the unsurpas.sed beauty which this 
field shall present when its projected plan shall have been 



SETTLING SAUQUOIT. 79 

■completed. Thou shalt gather our kindred to Thine embrace, 
and ourselves to Thine arms ! Be pitiful, oh, God, be pitiful 
to Thy mortal children ! We lift up to Thee, hands of per- 
ishing and pale dust, and invoke Thj'- compassions upon the 
orphan whose feet shall track these hills in sorrow; and on 
the parent who shall lay his idols in their bosom ; and on the 
widow who shall baptize them with her tears ! And while I 
invoke the mercies of Heaven to pity our mortal lot, I entreat 
you, be not chary of the beauties with which it is in your 
power to clothe this spreading field. You have gathered 
some, and you will gather them all ; so that, if yonder stream 
coming down from those distant hills tell us how the inhabit- 
ants of this valley, and these surrounding acclivities, shall 
come hither to sleep in death, then that which runs off yon- 
der, in search of the great common ocean, shall remind us, 
also, how the dead shall be called up and away again, to 
mingle in the greater ocean of immortality. The sweet 
flowers are not so rare ; the liquid emblems of immortality 
are not so costly; the numerous shrubs over which the spring 
<;asts her thousand colored blossoms are not so hard to be 
nursed ; the green groves are not so difficult to be cultivated ; 
nor the young birds of summer so hard to be won, but that 
they may be congregated here, to smile with sweet promise 
on the tearful and dim eye of the bending mourner, and 
break the otherwise oppressive and awful solitude of the 
burial field with minstrelsies of nature. We can and we will 
give a beautiful place of repose to our beautiful dead !" 

Twenty-eight years have since ticked off' from the great 
pendulum of Time, and nearly two thousand have been gath- 
ered into that silent, peaceful city overlooking the beaiatiful 
valley of the Sauquoit, to which, ninety years ago, Theodore 
Gilbert, with his little flock, arrived — the first family in the 
valley. 



CHAPTER IX. 

GLEN AND LAKE — SOME OF THE CURIOUS FORMATIONS IN 
ONEIDA COUNTY — CASCADES AND MOSS-COVERED LAKES — 
HOW INDIANS TRAVEL — HOW DEACON SIMEON COE BUILT 
ON THE HILL-TOP — THE FAMOUS "DRY-LOTS" MOUND — THE 
OLD INDIAN TRAIL — THE WATER-SHED OF ONEIDA COUNTY — 
THE deacon's narrow ESCAPE — SOME TALL SHINGLING 

STORIES A TALE WHICH WILL WARM THE HEART OF " THE 

OLDEST INHABITANT." 

Passing out of Utica east, along Pleasant street to the large 
Graefenberg reservoir, and thence up the hill, from the brow 
of which a tine view of the city is obtained, continuing along 
the load some two miles, the magnificent spring is reached 
that mainly supplies the necessities of her 35,000 citizens. It 
bursts from the hillside near the summit, a tull-sized moun- 
tain brook, in close proximity to the ruins of the once famous 
water-cure retreat, erected many years ago by Dr. Holland, 
and afterward destroyed by fire. Yah-nun-dah-sis, the Indian 
name for the city, signifies " around the hill," and this is the 
hill. Further around the hill, some three or four miles .south- 
westerly, three springs of similar magnitude, near together, 
form the source of the Holman City branch of the Sauquoit, 
which unites with that creek at Graham's paper mill, on the 
site of the Farmer's factory, destroyed by fire in 1850; a mile 
or two south of these three springs is the celebrated one, the 
head of the Unadilla, flowing south to the Susquehanna ; on 
the northeasterly side of the hill, a creek taking its rise in 
" soap-grease hollow," near Jericho, flows down the " gulf," 
past the ruins of the old furnace erected early in the century, 
thence to the Mohawk at Frankfort, furnishing the water 
power for the celebrated Gates match factory; a few miles 
further east along the hill another creek takes its rise, flows 
past the primitive Fish's "still," and thence to Ilion, where it 
furnished the power for the ancient forge where, in the olden 
time, the late E. Remington established a manufactory of rifle 



CURIOUS FORMATIONS IN ONEIDA COUNTY. 81 

barrels, which, in time, has develo])ed into the present Armory 
and works of world-wide fame, with their more than twelve 
acres of floor area, filled with the most expensive and intri- 
cate machinery, representing an investment of millions of 
dollars. The location of this vast business at this little 
interior village was determined, primarily, by this stream. 
On the summit of the hill reposes a placid little shf^et of 
water of marvelous clearness, some two miles in circumfer- 
ence, of fabulous depth, fed solely by subterraneous springs, 
and called by the early settlers Smith's Pond, but now known 
as Cedar Lake. The outlet leads to a ci-eek flowing south 
past the site of the old-time famous Moi'gan's "still," near 
Winfield, thence into the Unadilla, and to the ocean at Ches- 
apeake Bay. This lake is so absolutely on the summit that 
engineers, by careful survey, have demonstrated that its 
waters can, at a trifling expense, be diverted and made to 
flow north instead of south, and aid the Graefenberg to sup- 
ply the want of Utica if future requirements demand. It is 
singular that this hill — giving birth to numerous creeks with 
the largest mannfactujing interests of the State thereon, the 
fountain head proper of a noble river, its si)rings watering a 
thirsty city, and, to cap all, a veritable lake on its summit — 
should be dubbed by the early .settlers "Dry Lots." Travel- 
ing west from Graefenberg towards Norwich Corners, (distant 
about two miles,) the ground to the right slopes ofl" gradually, 
rich deposits of iron ore cropping out on the way, the hill 
terminating at Forest Hill Cemetery. This ore is also found 
to the left, in the Furnace Gulf, and doubtless extends through 
the hill to a great depth. 

Following Albany street, out of Utica, and along the route 
of the old plank road leading to Winfield, and winding up' 
the hillside to a point near the stone quarry, an easy descent 
can thence be made, to the right, into the deep ravine at the 
upper end of the large Graefenberg reservoir. Follow up the 
stream a short distance, and the deep, dark, wooded triple 
glens lie fan-shaped before you ; through each flowing a 
mountain brook, pouring into the broader valley of the reser- 
voir; at your feet, the debris of the distant hills, gravel, slate 
and huge boulders, firmly packed, tell the mysterious way, in 
E 



82 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

the process of ages, hills come down and valleys fill up. En- 
tering the right-hand glen of the three, the little rivulet, for 
a time lost in the debris, soon again is found above, sparkling 
and dancing down in a hundred tiny cascades over the solid 
slate bottom of the lovely glen ; on either side, the forest 
trees towering hundreds of feet above, while overhead a little 
patch of blue sky alone is visible. The ascent along the cool 
rocky bed of the rivulet is not unlike the steps of some vast 
cathedral, up, up, rising in a distance of some forty rods about 
300 feet; half-way up is lodged a huge boulder, in the bed of 
the stream, weighing many tons, broken from the overhang- 
ing table-rock at the falls, and brought down by some pre- 
vious rush of waters, awaiting a future flood to slide it down 
to the broad valley below. At the head of the glen you are 
confronted by a solid wall of slate, surmounted by an over- 
hanging table-rock of hard gray stone, crescent-shaped, ex- 
tending entirely across the top of the glen, over which pours 
the brook in a sheer fall of seventj'-five feet, a beautiful cas- 
cade now, but when swollen by the melting snows of spring, 
or sudden rain storm, a roaring water-fail. Retracing your 
steps, and ascending the middle glen, the charming scene, 
unadorned as yet by the hand of man, is repeated. The falls 
at the head of this glen — along the very brink of which 
passes the road to Norwich Corners — come tumbling down in 
two steps; a white sulphur spring finding i;s way out from 
the seam above the slale formation, and under the overlying 
table-rock. The other of the three glens, similar in its char- 
acteristics, though suialler, is none the less romantic. How 
many of our citizens who have "done" Niagara, Trenton 
Falls and Watkins' Glen, traversed broad continents and 
crossed wide oceans in search of rare and beautiful scenery, 
have ever visited these wild romantic glens, with their cas- 
cades sparkling in loveliness, within three miles of the City 
Hall. A mile further up the old plank road route, the summit 
of the hill is reached, from which one of the most extensive 
views in the State is obtained, rivaling that from Tassel Hill, 
between Cassville and Waterville, or the Catskill Mountain 
House on the Hudson. Two miles further along, and six 
miles from Utica, is the old-time Whitmore's Tavern, now 
Frankfort Hill post-oflice. 



CURIOUS FORMATIONS IN ONEIDA COUNTY. 83 

In the construction of the Michigan Central Raih-oad, at a 
point in the interior of the State, a small plain, between two 
bluffs, was crossed, requiring an embankment or fill from 
bluff to bluff, on the completion of which an engine, passing 
slowly and carefully over it, when near the middle began to 
settle down, together with the embankment, and soon disap- 
peared in the bowels of the earth. What appeared to be 
solid ground, proved to be a lake, completely overgrown, first 
with moss, then in the process of time accumulating soil, 
finally forming a firm covering or bridge over the entire sur- 
face of the lake — one of the wonders of the continent. On 
the Whitmore farm, this wonderful process is being repeated. 
About one hundred rods back in the forest reposes a little 
lakelet, called by the early settlers Bear Pond — it was a 
favorite resort of bruin — the outlet flowing into Furnace 
Hollow, and uniting with the creek down the gulf to Frank- 
furt. It is of great depth, its waters clear and culd, and is 
already nearly overgrown with moss, on which soil is being- 
formed, with shi-ubs and trees growing thereon, a small area 
of clear water only remaining, where, thirty years ago, quite 
a number of acres were open water, on which a row-boat was 
kept. The moss is several feet in thickness, quite firm, and 
can be walked on safely to within a few feet of the little patch 
of open water. Another generation will see it entirely over- 
grown, and eventually solid ground, the tiny lake imprisoned 
beneath, like the Michigan wonder. 

It is near Haccadam Swamp, and near it, passed the famous 
Indian trail leading from Oneida Castle — the council place of 
the Six Nations — across Paris Hill and the Sauquoit valley, 
thence "over the hill" to the Mohawk. This trail, which 
guided many of the early settlers to the Sauquoit valley, is 
now obliterated, but should any of the dusky descendants of 
those tribes revisit these hunting grounds of their fathers, 
they could doubtless follow it with precision, such is the 
accuracy of their traditions. An instance of their dexterity 
in finding their way through an unknown country, occurred 
many years ago at Staunton, west of the Blue Mountains, 
Virginia. A number of the Creek Nation arrived at that 
town on their way to Philadelphia and had stopped there 
-over niuht. In the morning, one-half of the Indians started 



84< HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

off without their companions, who followed on sonae hours 
later. Several of the towns-people mounting their horses,, 
escorted them a few miles along the highway, when all at 
once, hastily turning aside into the woods, though there waa- 
no path, the Indians went confidently forward. The escort, 
surprised at the movement, told them they were quitting the 
road to Philadelphia and would doubtless miss their compan- 
ions who had gone on before. They replied that they knew 
their companions had entered the woods at that very spot, 
and that it was the shortest route to Philadelphia. Curiosity 
led some of the horsemen to follow on, when they soon over- 
took the other Indians in the thickest part of the woods. On 
consulting a map it was ascertained that this route was as 
direct to the city as if they had taken bearings by compass. 
From others of their tribe who had been over the route, they 
received their direction, and never lost sight of it, although 
they had traveled three hundred miles through the woods, 
and had some four hundred miles more to go to reach the 

city. 

Jeff'erson, in his account of the Indian graves in Virginia,, 
relates that a party of Indians that were passing on to some 
of the sea-ports on the Atlantic, were observed on a sudden to 
quit the straight road they were traveling, and, without 
asking any questions, took a beeline through the woods to 
one of their graves, which lay some mdes from the road. 
Nearly a century had elapsed since that part of Virginia in 
which this grave was situated had been inhabited by the 
Indians, and certainly none of these Indians had ever been 
there before, but were guided to the spot solely by the de- 
scription that had been handed down to them by tradicion. 

Further along the plank road route, some twelve miles 
from Utica, Cedar Lake (Smith's Pond) is reached, in the 
vicinity of which some remarkable openings of great depth 
are found in the lin)estone formation that underlies this whole 
region. A stone di'opped into the mouth of these openings 
can be heard in its descent rebounding from side to side, till 
at length it reaches the bottom, apparently some hundreds of 
feet. The mouths of some of these openings are too small to 
admit of exploration, while others of them could be readily 
descended. They are found on the Marshall farm, Rodney 



CURIOUS FORMATIONS IN ONEIDA COUNTY. 85 

Wilcox's, Aaron Goodier's, and others. On the lii^h giound 
towards Sauquoit, and along the ridge known as "Dry Lots," 
•for several miles the ground, when stami)ed upon, gives forth 
a hollow, reverberating sound, indicating the presence of a 
cavern beneath, to which, thus far, no entrance has been dis- 
covered. In going over the hill from Aaron Goodier's to 
Wakeman Rider's, a turn to the right on top of the hill irom 
the road, and thence thi-ough a pasture, some one hundred 
rods, and one of the largest of these remarkable openings is 
found, the mouth of which is about 12x6 feet in size. A 
large stone hurled into this yawning chasm, after crashing 
down, rebounding from side to side, seems at last to strike on 
a projecting ledge, and then bounding off leaps into another 
cavern far down in the depths of the earth. This opening, 
with a proper windlass, a strong rope and large bucket, such 
as well sinkers use, all firmly secured to timbers extending 
across the mouth, could be safely explored. Of course a 
lighted lantern should be first lowered to ascertain if foul air 
existed, and the explorer, who goes down in the bucket, 
should take in hand either a cord or an acoustic telephone to 
signal his assistants above. This offers a fruitful 5eld of dis- 
covery aud research for some of our geological students of 
nerve, that promises great and important results, as there is 
little doubt that a large cave is in the hill. Other large open- 
ings on the summit in the woods can be explored if this one 
should not prove to connect with the cave. Cedar Lake 
atfords a convenient and delightful camping ground in the 
grove on its shore for a party to make a base of ojierations 
for a thorough exploration, which could be accomplished in 
the course of two or three v\'eeks, the result of which would 
be looked for with great interest in their daily bulletins of 
their find in the heart of the hill. 

A mile west of Norwich Corners the brow of the hill is 
reached, the prospect from this point — Coe's Hill, being one 
of the most beautiful imaginable. The lovely valley of the 
Sauquoit, in full view like a vast panorama; the charming 
little twin-village at the bottoaa of the vale ; the creek, glis- 
tening and rippling along on its winding way, here aud there 
arrested in its course to do tribute to the Moloch of commerce, 
dammed in reservoirs for the mills aud factories, tiny lakes of 



86 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

marvelous beauty ; the grand slope of the opposite hillside 
with its homesteads, orchards, meadows aud fiells mapped 
out in plain view, combine to make a picture, which once be- 
held, is never to be effaced from memory. The view of the 
Wyoming valley on the Susquehanna from Campbell's !edge, 
is grandly beautiful, (though somewhat marred of late years 
by the coal-mining operations, and the huge, unsightly 
mounds of refuse coal,) the sight of old Forty-fort, the scene 
of the massacre in 1778 ; the villages of Kingston, Pittstoo 
Wyoming and Wilkes-Barre, the noble river flowing through 
the broad valley — is the theme of praise by tourists. But 
they may be paixloned their enthusiasm, when it is borne in 
mind that they have never looked from the brow of Coe's ' 
Hill upon the unsurpassed rural scene there unfolded. 

A little past mid-day, early in the month of March, 1791, 
eighty-eight years ago, driving a team of oxen to a rude 
sleigh loaded with vaiious utensils and sup[)lies, preceded by 
a cow driven by his nephew, Morris Maltby, a sturdy lad of 
18, and comi)ani()ned by a faithful dog; on his shoulder a 
trusty rifle, his right hand grasping an ox goad, with a flour- 
ish of which and a stentorian whoa ! that awoke the slumber- 
ing echoes of the forest, a pioneer halted his caravan on the 
brow of this hill. He had ti'aveled with his van many a 
weary day, crossing the Connecticut and Hudson Rivers on i 
the ice, and from the frontier settlement of German Flats, 
through the dense forest without other track than the old 
Indian trail and blazed trees, made his way to this point, his j 
future chosen home. Unyoking the tired oxen, and turning 
them loose along with the cow to " brow.se," he prepared to go 
into camp; leaning his ready rifle against a tree, within easy 
reach ; with gleaming axe divesting a few giant trees of their 
bark, as high up as he could reach ; selecting a favorable spot, 
and clearing away the snow, he, with liis bi'oad sheets of 
bark and a few poles, fashioned a comfortable bark cabin, 
covering the ground floor to the depth of a foot or more with 
small green hemlock boughs, over which he spread his blank- 
ets, and then removed to the cabin from the sleigh all the 
portable utensils and " traps." A few sturdy strokes of the 
axe, and the flrst tree felled by man on his farm came crash- 
ing down. This was reduced to suitable lengths, piled a little 



DEACON SIMEON COE. 87 

distance before the open front of the cabin, and, ignited with 
flint, steel and tinder, a roaring tire soon shed its genial 
warmth around. Night approaching he whistled up his dog, 
who soon appeared, driving before him the cattle, which were 
secured in a thicket close at hand, and furnished with a 
plentiful su|)ply of browse (small twigs cut from the beech, 
birch or maple,) the only food for them attainable, many pros- 
pective years lying between then and their next " bait" of 
hay or grass; milking the cow and dressing the small game, 
shot as he came along in the morning, he soon prepared, 
cooked and ate his first meal on the site of his well-selected 
future home. Replenishing his tire, and stretching his weary 
limbs on the aromatic bed of boughs, with feet to the tire, his 
dog and gun beside him, Deacon Simeon Coe, the tirst settler 
east of the creek in the town of Paris, dropped otf into the 
sound sleep of wearied, healthtul manhood, and dreamed of 
the possible future before him. Awake with the dawn, and 
before commencing the arduous task of building the log-house, 
and making ready to bring forwai'd his faujily left back in 
old Connecticut, he took a look about him. As he stepped to 
the brow of the hill and looked to the west, the rising sun 
behind him revealed in magnificent gi-andeur the valley, a 
vast amphitheatre of unbroken forest, dark and silent, the only 
sign of human life visible being the small clearing in the 
valley with the log-house of the pioneer, Theodore Gilbert, 
and a thin wreath of blue smoke slowly curling up above 
the tree tops over on the western hillsiile and well up toward 
the horizon, which arose from the cabin fire of John and Syl- 
vester Butler and Asa Shepard, the pioneers on that hillside, 
who arrived the previous year, and located there. 

Few, if any, of this generation, have ever looked out from 
home over such a scene. Beyond, and to the west, all then a 
howling wilderness across the continent and to the Pacific, 
to-day is peopled with millions of intelligent inhabitants; 
villages and great cities, connected by a vast network ot rail- 
roads and telegraphs ; rivers and great lakes teeming with 
leviathan steamboats, and that whole region, with their civil- 
ization of the highest type, furnished with the thousand-and- 
one appliances of mechanics, agriculture and arts, since 
invented, and not then dreamed of by mortal man. As he 



88 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

toiled day after day fur years, he, from his commanding posi- 
tion, beheld gradual changes in the valley and on the hill- 
sides — first, log-houses, then the saw mill and framed houses, 
the dense forest meantime steadily yielding to the stroke of 
the woodman's axe, and giving place to fertile fields with 
verdure clad, then to blossoming orchards. Grist mill, oil 
mill, furuace and carding mill, distillery, potashery, store and 
tavern, then churches and schools, woolen mill, cotton mill 
and paper mill, were marshaled before him as time went on 
bv the magic hand of toil. The Oneida Indian name, Sagh- 
da-quad-da, alluding to the creek and signifying "smooth, 
round pebbles," afterward pronounced Sedawquate, (so spelled 
iu deed of Captain Bacon, in 1809,) was, later on and for 
many years, called by the old settlers Sock-wait, until finally 
the village was officially named as a post-office, Sauquoit, the 
Stockbridge and Brothertown Indians' name for the creek, 
and signifying "short and rapid." 

The old Indian trail of the Stockbridge and Brothei'town 
tribes to the Mohawk valley crossed Paris Hill, thence down 
and across the valley, keeping north of the main road, and 
down the ravine on the Babbitt farm. In the ravine north of 
where Mr. Throop now )-esides, they had a cabin by the brook, 
where they halted for days at a time, and went about the 
village, disposing of their baskets, moccasins and bead orna- 
ments, their lads shoi^ting with bow and arrow at small coin, 
placed in the top of a split stick, stuck up at about twenty 
yards distance, winning the coin if they hit it, which feat, as 
a rule, they performed successfully. The trail led east from 
tlie village, through Crane's woods, and crossed the main road 
diagonally, near the grove, between Deacon Coe's house and 
Norwich Corners, thence through Haccadam Swamp, and 
down through Furnace Hollow to Fi-ankfort. These wander- 
ing bands invariably took the old trail, instead of the white 
man's road, but they finally ceased their visits about the year 
1840. The barn still standing on the north side of the road, 
at the brow of Coe's hill, was erected by the deacon, but his 
old homestead, a few rods east of the barn, long since fell to 
decay. The old cellar, overrun with rose bushes, is all that 
is left of the first " covering roof" on the hill. He lived there, 
however, to a good old age, the farm at his death passing into 



THE deacon's narrow ESCAPE. 89 

the possession of the late Henry Crane, then to his son John, 
who, after living many years in the old Coe house, abandoned 
it, building a new house a few rods west of the barn, which 
has since been destroyed by fire. In the erection of the barn 
the deacon and his stalwart son, Maltby, put on the shin- 
gles — previously made by them during the winter — at odd 
times, after the spring's work on the farm was over. One 
morning Maltby nad occasion to go to the village, returning, 
however, an hour or two before noon, and to till in the time 
until the dinner hour, took his rifle and started across the 
fields towards the woods north of the house, thinking to shoot 
a few gray squirrels. Neariug the woods, he discovered one 
apparentl^^ on the fence, but somewhat obscured by the inter- 
vening bushes. Bringing the rifle quickly to his shoulder, 
and taking aim, he was in the act of pressing the trigger, 
when a putl' of wind swaying the bushes revealed to him the 
face of his venerable father, whose gray head he had mis- 
taken for a squirrel. Saved by a breath; a thought later and 
the unerring bullet would have sped through his brain. Of 
course, his hunt was over. Completely unmanned, he went 
forward and explained to his father — whom he found calmly 
•mending the fence— the fatal danger he had so miraculously 
•escaped, when they repaired to the house fall of thankfulness 
for the Providential presei-vation. After dinner they together 
went on to the i-oof of the barn to finish up the shingling 
near the top, the thrilling hair-breadth escape of the morning 
constantly forcing itself into their conservation. Finally the 
old deacon said to Maltby: 

" It seems strange you should have made such a mistake 
with your young eyes ; old as I am, I could have told the 
diff"erence. [He had a habit of bragging about his keen eye- 
sight.] Can you see that barn down yonder ?" 

"Yes, certainly, but I don't see what Hull's barn has to do 
with it ?" 

"Can you see anything moving on the ridge-pole?" 

" No, I can't see anything there ?" 

" Look again, carefully, my son, and about three feet from 
the end you will see a mosqidfo walking along." 

Maltby, after looking intently as directed, placed his hand 
to his ear, in the attitude of listening. Then suddenly placing 



90 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 



his other hand on the arm of his father, with a gesture 
enjoining silence : 

"Hark, father! you are right; sure enough, he is there; I 
can hear him step." 

Considering that the distance to that barn, down the hill- 
side toward the Eagle Factory, was more than half a mile, 
the acute development displayed of the most important 
senses — hearing and seeing — was as remarkable as the ready 
wit of Maltby, who was noted for his "sells" and practical 
waggery. 

A real tragedy was finally, a few years ago, enacted on the 
old pioneer farm. John Crane, its last owner, in a fit of 
insane melancholy, the result of lingering ill-health, in that 
same old barn, high up among the roof timbers, securely fast- 
ening to them one end of a halter, with the other end around 
his neck, stepped off" from the big beam into the abyss of the 
dread unexplored — swinging to and fro like a pendulum, alone. 



1 

1 



CHAPTER X. 

BAXTER GAGE — THE CHAMPION CHOPPER OF THE SAUQUOIT 
VALLEY — A REMINISCENCE OF A STURDY PIONEER — HOW 
THE MONAROHS OF THE FOREST WERE FELLED WITH MATH- 
EMATICAL PRECISION IN OLDEN TIMES — GENERAL KIRK- 
LAND's LEGAL SHREWDNESS. 

During the war of 1776, among all the brave patriots who 
staked their fortunes in that noble struggle for liberty, none, 
perhaps, played a more important part than the bold and dar- 
ing privateersmen — sailors trained to hardship and dangers 
in the fishing and coasting trade, they knew no fear, their 
only hope being to sight and overhaul a British merchantman. 
The question of immediate attack was a foregone conclusion, 
without regard to canvas carried by the prospective prize, 
calibre of her guns, or disparity of numbers by which de- 



BAXTER GAGE, THE CHAMPION CHOPPER. 91 

fended. Among the bravest of the brave of a saucy little 
craft manned by " Cape Cod-ers," was Don Juan Ga^^e, of 
Spanish j)arentage,a hero of the Revolution. He was always 
the first on the enemj^'s deck, leading the " boarders." In his 
last engagement, true to his tradition, he was first and fore- 
most, not that his feet actually trod the deck of the foe, but 
his head got there. While in the act of boarding, a single 
powerful sweep of a broadsword, like a gleam of light, and 
his head rolled over the deck of the enemy, and his body fell 
back between the grappled vessels, and the brave patriot 
found his grave in the deey), deep sea. His gallant followers 
fearfully avenged the death of their bold leader. It was 
noticed when they arrived in port with their prize, that they 
had very few prisoners. He left a wife and infant boy, Bax- 
ter Gage, born m Yarmouth, Cape Cod, October, 1777. Upon 
the death of his mother, the orphan boy resolved to "go West." 
His preparation for the journey did not consume much time. 
Making a bundle of his extra clothing, suspended on a stick 
over his shoulder, with a few dollars only in his pocket, bare- 
footed, in the summer of 1790, he turned his face towards the 
setting sun, bade good-bye to the sandy barrens of Cape Cod 
and the rolling sea, and boldly struck out on the march across 
the New England States to Albany ; thence working his pas- 
sage up the Mohawk River on batteaux, in due time arriving 
at Fort Schuyler; thence to New Hartford, where he fortu- 
nately found immediate employment with Judge Sanger. He 
was a lad of powerful physique, and although but fourteen 
years of age, could with ease do a man's work. He soon 
mastered the art of chopping, in which he developed great 
skill. In the winter, at the suggestion of his employer, he 
went up the Sauquoit valley, then being cleared up, at 
which point good choppers vA^ere in demand. At that period 
those early settlers were wont to cut down a single tree at a 
time, and chop the trunks into lengths of about fourteen feet, 
which, with the larger limbs, were hauled by oxen to log- 
heaps to be burned ; the small limbs and twisrs were collected 
into an imujense brush-heap, and when dry enough also 
burned. The resounding ci-ash of those giant falling forest 
trees was a constant .sound in all directions, echoing through 
the valley, and fiom hill to hill. The jM'ocess of thus getting 



92 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

rid of t!ie timber was slow, involving a vast amount of labor 
in chopping up and hauling the logs after the trees were 
felled. The particular direction in which to fall a tree is de- 
termined by the skill and judgment of the chopj)er. A deep 
notch to and beyond the centre of the tree is first chopped on 
the side toward the direction designed for the fall ; this first 
notch, must, at its apex, have a line through the tree at right 
angles to the proposed falling line, a notch on the opposite =!ide 
is then commenced, and, as it deepens toward the apex line, 
the tree gradually sags over toward the deep-notch side cut 
in beyond its centre of gravity, and at length gives way, and 
goes crashing down to earth. A crooked tree, oi- one M'ith 
branches largely predominating on one side is difficult to fall 
in a given direction, and rival chopj)ers would often wager 
young Baxtei' that he could not perform that feat, they setting 
up a stake in the direction that they challenged him to fall it. 
He took those wagers and invariably won, and with the fall- J 
ing tree drove home their stake deep in the ground. To ' 
accomplish this required a very deep notch beyond the centre 
with the base line of the apex, at a mathematically perfect j 
right angle to an imaginary line leading to the stake, all cal- ' 
culated by the eye alone, unaided by an instrument or any 
measurement; the slightest variation from a right angle and 
it would land right or left of the stake. The plan of "slash- 
ing" down the forest was the outgrowth of this great skill of 
the champion chopper, by which he was able to contract to 
fall the trees at ten dollars per acre, (he could fall an acre per 
week,) the old plan costing more than twice that sum. On a 
level tract of land, he would lay out to fall a belt of timber 
nine rods wide across the tract trom west to east, falling to- 
wards the east, to gain advantage of the generally prevailing 
westerly wind ; of course if on a hillside, falling them down 
hill. 

Commencing on the east end of his proposed belt, lie deep- 
notched tliiough the tract, on a centre strip three rods wide, 
each tree on its east side, leaving them standing, but prepared 
to fall due east ; the south three-rod strip of the belt was 
deep-notched from the northeast, that they should fall in that 
direction, and diagonally towards the centre strip ; the north 
three-rod slip of the belt were all deep-notched on the south- 



BAXTER GAGE, THE CHAMPION CHOPPER. 93 

east direction, to fall that way, and diagonally towards the 
centre strip ; nearing the western extremity of the tract, he 
narrowed up the belt abruptly to the shape of the letter A, to 
the largest tree to be found on the extreme of a centre line of 
the middle three-rod strip. Thus pre})arcd,he made ready to 
fall, due east, this giant of the primeval forest, the keystone 
of the great work. First, chopping well beyond the centre 
from the east, then stepping around to the west, he attacked 
that side, and while his gleaming axe steadily ate its way 
into the heart of the mammoth, even then, quivering and 
trembling with the thi-oes of dissolution as the apex line was 
neared, he paused to take breath and gather energy, that the 
last few decisive strokes could be delivered with the utu)Ost 
quickness and telling vigor, wiping the perspiration from his 
heated brow, Tand taking a good strong pull at the jug,) a keen 
professional glance toward the east over his field of labor 
revealed to him nothing unusual to an Amei'ican forest scene 
on a beautiful day in May — the sky serene, a gentle breeze 
soughing through the tree tops, to which — their acknowledged 
master when asseited in a whirlwind mood — they now grace- 
full}^ swayed and bowed; the birds chirruping and twittering 
as they flitted from tree to tree, arranging their little love 
affairs for the season, and the playful squirrels, leaping from 
limb to limb in their gleeful abandon. Sufficiently refreshed, 
he stepped promptly forward, and, with all the vigor of his 
powerful frame, sent home the rapid final blows, then leaped 
nimbly back, be3^ond the possible rebound, so often fatal to 
careless choppers, and looked again to the east ; the leviathan 
that had braved the storms for a centur}^ and defiantly 
waved each successive season his banner of green, yielded at 
last to the sturdy hand of toil, bent slowly toward the east, 
gaining velocity and power in the death plunge, the broad, 
wide-streatching limbs gathering in the weaker trees before, 
and they in turn the crippled victims further ahead, with a 
successive crash, crash, and deafening roar of a thousand 
tempests, in an instant all prostrate, the elastic branches 
whipping and bounding, then soon all quiet, as the echo died 
away. None of this generation ever witnessed such a scene of 
magnificent grandeur. 

Baxter looked over his work — a grand avenue opened up 



94; HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

through the dark forest, an immense windrow of trees, inter- 
locked and piled toward the center, a vast log and brush heap 
combined, ready for the torch — a belt of fallen timber through 
the track, nine rods wide, artistically " slashed." He followed 
this occupation for several years — an acre per week being 
o-enerally the result — but, under favorable circumstances, he 
accomplished it in four or five days. After the Paris Furnace 
was established in 1801, creating a demand for charcoal, the 
slasliiug was abandoned, and the trees cut down singly and 
into logs for the coal-pit, affording a profitable revenue. 
Baxter, finally, in 1805, with the savings of his arduous toil, 
l)urchased a farm of ninety-nine acres, extending from the 
Farmer's Factory east, and up and across the main road lead- 
hv-y from West Sauquoit and up the hillside. 

Money is, in its acquisition, doubtless the prime moving 
cause of mvriads of crimes, frauds, robberies and defalcations 
amono- individuals, and between nations war, pillage and de- 
vastation in the acquisition of territory. The contention for 
money is either labor, trade or robbery, but as " money makes 
the mare go," the struggle for its yjossession ever goes on. 
Mankind have been aptly divided into three classes — money- 
o-etter, money-keeper and money-spender. To be effective, 
money, like steam in an engine boiler, must be confined, the j 
throttle-valve only opened to apply it as power direct. With 
the ordinary spendthrift it is like water boiled in an open 
kettle, it all evaporates in steam. Another class of money- 
spenders, who borrow to carry on undertakings beyond their 
capital, thinking to become money getters ; farmers, for in- 
stance, paying down their all to purchase a farm beyond their 
means, and mortgaging for double what they pay in, evapo- 
rate none the less surely, only in this instance, instead of 
floating off into the open air, the steam, called interest, is 
caught and condensed by the mortgage instrument, like 
whisky evaporated in the still, trickling back through the 
worm into the maw of the money-keeper, where it all, sooner 
or later, arrives. 

The early settlers soon developed into the several inevita- 
ble money classes. The farm of Baxter Gage was advertised 
under foreclosure in the Columbian Gazette, in 1811, he 
thrown into jail, the printed notice posted on the Court 



BAXTER GAGE, THE CHAMPION CHOPPER. 95 

House dooi, and another on the door of the jail in which he 
was incaicerated. General Kirkland, who, with the father of 
Hon. W.J.Bacon, Judoe Sanger and Colonel Avery, was then 
largely interested in the Farmers' Factory, adjoining the 
farm, on one of his visits there learned ot his trouble, and on 
returning paid a visit to the prisoner. He observed with the 
keen eye of a lawyer that the prescribed jail notice was 
posted on the outside of the jail door, instead of the inside, 
and as the prisoner could not get out to read it, it was no 
legal notice to him. He at once took steps to set aside the 
defective proceedings, and in a few hours the old "Slasher'' 
was trudging along toward home ; passing the house of Capt. 
Griffin, that venerable old hero of the Mill Prison, who also 
served with Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard, con- 
gratulated him on being "out again." " Ye.s, Captain, out 
again, and Geneial Kirkland and I are going to rip up things." 
The General succeeded in restoring to him the farm, on which 
he ever after resided. In the gratitude of his heart for this 
service the old man named his next born son Kirkland. The 
old pioneer chopper, who had assisted in clearing up many of 
the farms in the valley beside his own, at last laid down his 
axe, in the fullness of years, October 29, 1858, at the ripe 
age of 81. Of all those old pioneer farms in the valley but 
three are now in the possession of their descendants. No 
Bacon, Babbitt or Butlei-, Coe, Crane, Shepard or Gilbert, to- 
day find a home on the land of their fathers. The three 
exceptions are Hon. Eli Avery, on the Colonel Avery farm, 
and the two sons and two daughters of Lieutenant Spencer 
Briggs, (Daniel M., Henry L., Esther Ann and Polly,) and the 
two sons of Baxter Gage, (Kirkland and John Gage.) 



CHAPTER XI. 

CAPTAIN ABNER BACON AND HON. DAVID OSTROM — REVO- 
LUTIONARY SOLDIERS AND PIONEERS OF WEST SAUQUOIT — 
GENEALOGY — CAPTAIN BACON's EARLY ADVENTURES AND 
HIS SUCCESSES. 

I. Michael Bacon immigrated to Dedham, Mass., from Ire- 
land in 16-tO. It is thought he was English, (was Protestant,) 
and probably went over to Ireland, as did multitudes, for 
business ends. He died in 1648. 

II. John Bacon came over to America with his father 
when a child ; admitted to the Chui'ch in 1646 ; married 
in 1651, and died in 1683. 

III. Daniel Bacon, born in 1661 ; married in 1685, and 
died between 169-t and 1700. 

IV. William Bacon, born in 1694; marricl in 1715, and 
died . 

V. William Bacon, 2d, born in 1716; married 1737, and 
died in 1761. 

VI. Captain Abner Bacon was born in Dedham, Mass., 
May 3, 1758. His father died three years later, and his will 
provided, " That in case his wife should think fit to marry she 
should qwht my estate only ; that my son Abner, or his guar- 
dian, pay my said wife annually the sum of one pound six 
shillings and eight pence in lawful money for the term of ten 
years and no longer." Consequently when she married a Mr. 
Talbot, she was required to quit the estate, and Abner Ba- 
con's guardian paid her the annuity for ten years. The 
family still lived in Dedham, and forty years ago some of the 
original allotment of land made in 1640 was still in their pos- 
session, thus having been held by the family two hundred 
years. Captain Bacon was in the army during the entire 
Revolutionary War, entering the service as an officer's ser- 
vant at the age of 16, and at 17 years of age enlisted as a 
private. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and also at 
Ticonderoga. A kinsman, Lieutenant John Bacon, of Natick, 



CAPTAIN ABNER BACON. 97 

was killed in the tight at Lexino-too., April 19, 1775. He was 
promoted from time to time, and was captain at the close of 
the war. Upon the expiration of his term of service he mar- 
ried aud settled down in Dedham, Mass., where five children 
were born to him : Abner, Jr., January 7, 1781 ; Nabby, Sep- 
tember 24-, 1782; Timoth3^L., April 10. 1784; Lewis, April 3, 
1780; and Nanc^^ July 11, 1787. He then tried his fortunes 
in the wilderness of western Vermont, where he remained 
about one year, when, in consequence of the conflicts concern- 
ino- titles between New York and New Hampshire, he decided 
to leave that part of the country and go west. 

In the early spring of 1789, with his wife and family of 
five children, the oldest eight year.s-old and the youngest an 
infant, loaded into an ox-sled, with utensils and supplies, he 
took his wa}'- to the State of New York for the second time 
to try his fortune in the woods, and at length arrived at 
Cherry Valley, where he had contracted for a farm on the 
" East Hill," on which was already erected a log house and 
log barn, with a small portion of the land cleared off. The 
former owner fell a victim to the Indian massacre a few years 
before, and no further improvement had been made on the 
place. Arriving there with his family of little ones, he found 
the log house sadly out of repair, with no door or windows, 
and the snow in huge drifts piled inside, which he immedi- 
ately set to work to shovel out, and falling a dry " girded" 
tree, and chopping it in suitable lengths, he rolled a back-loo- 
into the great fire-place, and placing split wood in front, 
which was ignited with "flint and tinder," he soon had a 
rousing fire, sending its glowing warmth into the room where 
stood his shivering wife and infant children. Nabby, (who 
married Dr. Spaulding Pierce,) was then but six years old, 
but remembered well the building of that fire on the snow 
and ice accumulated on the hearthstone, and in the last years 
of her life (she died in May, 1872, aged 90 years,) often related 
the circumstance to her son, William Pierce. 

Another scene of their experience on that eventful first day 

in the wilderness, was vividly stamped on her memory. 

After the fire was " well a-going," a plentiful supply of wood 

was brought in and piled up beside the chimney, and then 

F 



98 * HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

blankets substituted for windows were put up to keep out the 
cold blasts, and a strong, old-fashioned, home-made woolen 
blanket fastened securely over the doorway and hanging 
down to the floor did duty as a door. Captain Bacon then 
proceeded to unload the sleigh and deposit the contents in 
their hovie, in the meantime caring for his oxen and cow in 
the log barn, which fortunately was in good condition, with a 
substantial door. Everything being at length removed from 
the sleigh to the house, his wife set about " putting things to- 
rights," and preparing a meal for the wearied husband and 
hungry little ones, while he, cutting a plentiful supply of 
•' browse" for the cattle, securely fasl-eued the barn door, and, 
preparing and rolling in an extra back log or two to replenish 
the fire if needed, tired and hungry, sat down to his tirst 
meal in the new home as the sun plunged down in the dark 
forest to the west and marked the clo.se of day. 

Under the glowing heat of the roaring fire in the great fire- 
place, the log-house floor at length dried out, and " shake- 
downs" being arranged with downy feather beds and ample 
quilts, the tired little pioneers were tucked snugly away, and 
one after another, yielding to the drowsy god, in the pleasant 
visions of dream-land foi'got the trials and discomforts of the 
day. The anxious matron, seeking the improvised couch to 
soothe awhile, the tired, worrying infant, completely "fagged 
out," fell a victim to her own Lethean lullab}^ and mother 
and babe, under the protecting care of angels, sweetly slept. 
The stalwart veteran of the Revolution with softening eye 
glanced at his sleeping treasures, their faces lit up by the 
ruddy glow of the ingle — a peaceful home scene so strikingly 
contrasted to the bivouac and the tented field — and with 
emotions akin to pride, stepped out into the little clearing 
whei-e stood the log-house and barn, surrounded on all sides 
by the dense, dark forest, the little log-house thrown into 
shade by the round, full moon, just then majestically swinging 
up above the sombre, leafless woods, and assuring himself 
that all was snug and safe at the barn, reentered his new 
chosen far-away wilderness home. Rolling one of the huge 
back-logs on to the trailing portion of the blanket suspended 
at the door, thus securely fastening the bottom, and replenish- 
ing the fire, he sought his much-needed repose, and ere long 



CAPTAIN ABNER BACON. 99 

the deep toned respirations of tired manhood, in measured 
<;adence, were the only sound that disturbed the stillness of 
that calm, clear night. The moon careered slowlj' onward 
■over the clearing, on to the west, and as the night waned, the 
log barn fell into the shade and the log-house stood forth in 
the clear moonlight, where all in deep repose, as the fire 
hurned low on the great hearth, were unconscious of danger; 
when suddenly the loud, affrighted bellowing of the cattle, 
mingled with fearful howls, broke upon the still night hour. 
The brave i)ioneer was instantly on his feet, and in a twink- 
ling, gun in hand, was on his way to the scene of the tumult 
at the barn, his wife meanwhile hastily gathering together the 
embers on the hearth and adding the dry split wood, which 
she fanned into a blaze that lit up the interior of the loo- 
■cabin, when at the instant there came the deafening report of 
the gun outside, and, with a bound, her husband was at her 
side, and, seizing a blazing firebrand, he thrust it through the 
•doorway, at the same time shouting to her to assist him in his 
efforts to replace the back-log on the trailing blanket that 
constituted the door, and the only barrier between the little 
family and a ferocious pack of half starved wolves, who, in 
full cry, made a rush at the cabin, and only halted at a few 
paces distant, brought to bay and cowed by the wavino- fire- 
brand, which his wife then taking in hand vigorously flour- 
ished, while the captain hastily reloaded his musket and sent 
another volley into the pack, which scattered them tempo- 
rarily, but only to return again and again, each time to fall 
sullenly back, the gallant captain loading and firing as fast as 
possible, and from time to time hastily supplying his wife 
with fresh firebrands from the hearth, while the children, 
awakened by the uproar, added their frightened screechino- to 
the din. Daylight at last breaking, the famished pack 
trooped back into the fastness of the dark forest, and quiet 
again reigned in the household. The wolves had scented the 
cattle and surrounded the barn, to which they could not gain 
an entrance, but when the Captain emerged from the door to 
ascertain the cause of the uproar, they, scenting him when he 
had advanced but a few paces, dashed out for him from the 
shade into the open moonlight, when at a bound, as he took 



100 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

in the peril of the situation, first sending a shot at the fore- 
most, he regained the house just in the nick of time. 

After remaining here two years, the parties of whom he 
had contracted to purchase the farm, being unable to give him 
a good title, he again, and for the third time, loaded his 
family and household goods into the ox-sleigh, and in the 
spring of 1791, again went west. Arriving at Paris Hill by 
the Bridgewater and Cassville route, he went tReuce down to 
the Sauquoit valle}^ and purchased a 500 acre lot (less 90 
acres already ])urchased by William M. Winship, afterwards 
known as the Seth Cooley farm, now the Brownell farm,) 
embracing the present village of West Sauquoit. Here he at 
once set to work to erect a log-house on the east side of the 
present road and opposite the house now occupied b}^ Hon. 
Chauncey S. Butler, employing the then young chopper, Bax- 
ter Gase, to assist him, who felled the first tree for the log- 
house on the site a few rods north of the present residence of 
Mr. Seymour. He soon after commenced the erection of a 
saw-mill on the creek and a little west of what is now the 
Mould Bros. Grist Mill, which he put up with hewn timbers, 
and the first lumber he sawed, and before the saw mill was 
roofed in or covered, went to filling an order for one of the 
first frame buildings erected in Utica, at the foot of Genesee 
street, in the summer of 1791. At that time there was no 
road as yet cut out, down the valley, and to deliver this 
lumber, a short aoiletree was put into his cart, making a nar- 
row conveyance on which the lumber piled high up was 
carted down the valley by the Indian trail as far as New 
Hartford and thence to Utica. He soon after sawed the lum- 
ber for a house erected on the Cooley farm, at the mouth of 
the lane leading to what is now the silk factory, and also for 
the house on the south side of the road, opposite (the first 
house on the east side of the Franklin factory yard,) which 
two were the fir.st frame or plank houses erected at Sauquoit. 
The next year or two after, he formed a copartnership with 
Hon. David Ostrom, also a Revolutionary soldier, who first 
settled at New Hartford, but soon after removed to Sauquoit, 
and erected a log- house on the east bank of the creek, about 
ten rods southeast of the present grist mill. The "corduroy 
road" across the valley from East to West Sauquoit, led along 



HON. DAVID OSTRUM. 101 

south of Ost?'om'H house, and through what is now the mill 
pond, leaving the present road near where Washington Mould 
now resides, and running into the road again near the present 
railroad crossing, forming a straight road from village to 
village. Bacon's saw-mill about this time burned down, and 
the firm of Bacon & Ostrom proceeded to erect a saw mill and 
a grist mill combined, and to get power or sutHcient " fall," it 
became necessary to locate the mills further down stream, 
where they now stand, and build the dam and Lack up the 
water over the road. The road at that time had not been 
recorded as a legal highway, and as all were anxious for a 
grist mill, they were by common consent permitted to change 
the road, making the bend around to the north of the mills. 
The saw mill was first erected and then the grist mill, the 
latter in 1796, which they got into operation in the early 
spring of 1797, the " run of stones" being the old-fashioned 
rock stones, the first mill to put in the imported burr stones 
being the Titus Gilbert Mill, erected the next year up the 
valley and near the Davis Forge, afterwards the Farmers' 
Factory, and now the U])per Paper Mills. Their first miller 
was William Risley, also a soMier of the Revolution, who 
served through the whole war. He was born in Patchogue, 
Long Island, and came to New Hartford in 1792, and worked 
in the grist mill built by Judge Sanger in 1790, now owned 
by John W. McLean. As soon as the Bacon and Ostrom 
mill was completed, early in 1797, he moved there, into the 
log-house near the mill (built by Mr. Ostrom, who had built a 
frame house in the meantime,) and took charge of the mill, 
where he lived many years, his four sons, Eli, Daniel, David 
Ostrom, and Jeremiah being born in the old log-house, where, 
too, his wife died. After the death of his wife, and when his 
oldest son, Eli, had grown to manhood, and married the 
daughter of Jonathan Russell, they removed to Litchfield and 
built the grist mill known as " Risley's Mills," located near 
the head of the creek that flows down through the "gulf" to 
Frankfort. Here the old Revolutionary hero, William Risley, 
who orround the first "grist" in the town of Paris, after a 
long and useful life, passed away after an illness of a few 
hours only, in June, 1834-, at the advanced age of 77, on the 
day that the Baptist Church (near the mills) was raised. Two 



102 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

sons, Jeremiah and David 0., survive him, residinof in the 
West. Bacon and Ostrom, after putting the grist mill in 
operation, built a carding and fulling mill, saw mill and cider 
mill, down the lane north of the grist mill. 

Mr. Ostrom sold out his interest in the grist mill to his partner 
in 1804, and removed to Utica and founded the well-known 
coffee-house on the site of the present Devereux Block, and 
later on lived opposite, on the site of the old Franklin House,, 
where now stands the Arcade building. He sold his interest 
in the carding mill, &c., to Captain Bacon, March 7, 1806. 
He was a prominent man in the town of Paris, and was its 
first Supervisor, chosen at the first town meeting, held at the 
house of Captain Moses Foot, April 2, 1793. Ui)on the 
organization of the County of Oneida in 1798, he was ap- 
pointed one of the Judges, which office he held until 1815. He 
was the first Member of Assembly in conjunction with Henry 
McNeil and Abel French, in 1798, and again in 1799, 1800, 
1801, 1803, 1808 and 1809. He was a prominent Free- 
Mason, " made" in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, under the 
Mastership of Judge Sanger, in 1793. He was born in 
Dutchess County in 1756, and full of honors, first and fore- 
most in town and county, Hon. David Ostrom, the pioneer 
manufacturer of Paris and hero of the Revolution, stricken 
with apoplexy, suddenly terminated his honorable career^ 
March 17, 1821. 

Previous to the year 1800, Captain Bacon erected a two- 
story frame house on the opposite side of the road from his 
log house, and on the site of the present residence of Hon. C. 
S. Butlei". (It now stands on the east side of the road, and a 
few rods north, owned and occupied by John Fletcher.) The' 
frame house being almost completed, but the plastering not 
yet quite dry, the family had not moved in, with the excep- 
tion of the "hired men," who had taken over two beds and 
set them up, when, one afternoon, the "men-folks" being all 
away at work, the old log house caught fire, and in spite of J 
the efibrts of the " women-folks," it was entirely destroyed, 
with all its contents. When Abner, Jr., the Captain's eldest 
son, reached the scene of the conflagration, he declared that 
" there was no great loss without some small gain ; they had 
got rid of the bed-buo-s and fleas." The first settlers wei'e 



CAPTAIN ABNER BACON. 103 

annoyed with these pests in the log houses, as they were not 
plastered inside like the tidy frame houses which they after- 
wards erected. Two children were born in the old log house : 
Kendall Bacon, born July 5, 1791, who was the first white 
male child born in Sauquoit, Molly Gilbert, daughter of The- 
odore Gilbert, Sr., born August 26, 1791, being the first female 
child born in Sauquoit. Kendall died in childhood. The 
other child, Lydia, (Mrs. J. Nourse, of North Chili, N. Y.,) 
born in the log house May 19, 1796, is the only surviving 
child by his first wife. After the death of his first wife, 
Captain Bacon again married, and three sons were born in 
the frame house : David, Daniel and James. David died in a 
western State about one year ago; Daniel resides in the 
Bradish Block, Utica, at the advanced age of 77 years, and 
James resides in Richmond, 111., aged 74. The new frame 
house was at once opened by C^aptain Bacon as a tavern, (the 
first in the valley,) and as he was a worthy Christian and 
church-member, the tavern was the favorite stopping-place 
of all the traveling ministers and circuit riders, who were 
always m-ide welcome, and in time it came to be known as 
the " ministers' home." In the " History of the Presbyte- 
rian Church of West Sauquoit," by Rev. J. N. McGifiTert, pub- 
lished in 1860, he records : "On January 29, 1810, a number 
of professing Christians met at the house of Abner Bacon and 
proceeded to organize a church of Christ. I extract the 
record of the meeting, as doubly interesting to those who 
have so long enjoyed the fruits of that precious day — the 
birthday of their church." Here follow the minutes of the 
meeting and list of members, "twenty- six in all, nine males 
and seventeen females." This pioneer " gin-mill," (as the 
descendants of those twenty-six now term its successor,) the 
birthplace of their church, was an orderly and well-kept 
country tavern — so considered at that very early day — but 
the customs of the people have so changed, that if the young 
men of to-day should indulge in such sj)rees and revelry as 
those old walls have witnessed, time and time again indulged 
in b}' those old settlers, the present tavern there would be 
shut up by law and the licen.se revoked. Captain Bacon's 
son James writes in resrard to the Sunday habits as follows : 
'The house was called the ministers' home; all of the sacred 



104 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

calling were warmly welcomed and generously entertained, 
and ray earliest recollection was a childish dread of Sunday, 
•because I was kept traveling down cellar to draw cider for 
the ministers." Soon after 1800, Captain Bacon erected an- 
other saw-mill on the site of the Franklin Factory, which, 
with the water power, he sold to the " Friendly- Woolen and 
Cotton Manufacturing Comimny," October 2G, 1813, who re- 
moved the saw-mill, converting it into a wool-house, and 
erected a stone factory, 35x50 feet, known as the "Quaker 
Factory." The old saw-mill, after being moved two or three 
times, and occupied for a store and office, and then a tene- 
ment house, was at last moved tc the east side of the rail- 
road, opposite the depot, and converted into a saloon, post- 
office, &;c., by Savage, Seaton & Brownell, in 1868. In the 
year 1809, Captain Bacon sold the carding mill property 
down the lane, north of the grist mill, to his son Abner, who 
thereafter lived there, dying, however, while on a visit West, 
February 6, 1860, aged 79 years. 

Captain Bacon was a prominent man in church and society, 
and donated the land for the old burying ground at West 
Sauquoit. August 25, 1832, the old hero of the Revolution 
and pioneer manufacturer of Sauquoit, Captain Abner Bacon, 
ceased from his labors and went to his rest, respected and 
regretted by all. His descendants are mostly in the western 
States. William Pierce, son of Dr. Spaulding Pierce, who 
married Nabby, the eldest daughter, is the only representa- 
tive of the Bacon family living in Paris, his son Daniel, of 
XJtica, and a grandson, Charles, (son of Daniel,) and a great- 
grandson. Prof Ambrose P. Kelsey, of Hamilton College, being 
the only others left in this vicinity. 



CHAPTER XII. 

LIEUTENANT SPENCER BRIGGS — ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF 
EAST SAUQUOIT — LIVING IN THE VALLEY WHEN IT WAS A 
DENSE WILDERNESS — GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF DESPERATE 
ENCOUNTERS BY MR. BRIGGS AND HIS WIFE JERUSHA WITH 
BEARS AND PANTHERS. 

Lieutenant* Spencer Briggs, the pioneer of East Sauquoit, 
was born in Rhode Island, January 7, 1767, and when a child 
his parents removed to Rutland, Vt. In the fall of 1790, at 
the age of 23 years, he turned his steps towards the then 
" Far West," and arriving at Albany he went up the Mohawk 
in batteaux, in due time arriving at Fort Schuyler, (Utica,) 
and, disembarking, made his way to New Hartford, where he 
formed the acquaintance of Judge Sanger, for whom he 
worked during the winter, and in the spring of 1791 went 
up the valley to Sauquoit, where he purchased fifty acres of 
land — the site of the Franklin Factory — which he soon after 
sold at a good profit, and purchased another plot of one hun- 
dred acres. This in turn he also sold, and soon after, with 
his profits on these transactions and accumulated earnings, he 
went to Albany and contracted with the agents of the Bayard 
Patent for five hundred acres, which embraced the present 
village of East Sauquoit, it being the most level and fertile 
portion of the town of Paris. In " running out " this tract 
the surveyors, as was then the custom, "dropped" a link on 
every chain, so that the survey would be sure to hold out. 
The result was that, when he had sold off portions to differ- 
ent parties, the farm that he retained for his homstead over- 
ran thirty acres. He built the first log house in that village 
at a point on the rising ground a little southeast of where his 
daughter, widow Daniel Wells, now resides, near the old 
orchard, and the battle of life in the wilderness commenced. 
He did not hesitate to sell off his land at the " four corners,' 
(now East Sauquoit,) on the road to Norwich, as those did 

*The old settlers always called him Lefteaaut Briggs. 



106 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

north of that road, and so it happened that the village grew 
up in his direction, with churches, schools, &c., while he re- 
tained his farm in the immediate southern suburbs. Soon, 
aiterwards the Marsh family came in and settled at the foot 
of the hill leading to Norwich Corners, and built a log house 
at the corner of the intersecting road that now leads to the 
Campbell neighborhood, and opposite the wagon shop of 
James Truman. The remains of the old cellar are still visi- 
ble, from out of which has sprung a thrifty apple tree. 

Jerusha Marsh, a comely brunette of 19, and a sister of 
Sheldon Marsh, attracted the attention of the young gallants 
of that period, but Spencer, who was gay and attractive in 
those days, carried off the prize, and ere long — March 13» 
1792 — transferred her, a willing bride, to his comfortable log 
house south of the village. The Marsh family soon after 
removed to Bridgewater, and a Potter family succeeded to 
their log house. Later on, and after sheep had been intro- 
duced, Mrs. Potter developed into an expert wool-carder fby 
hand) and spinner, and as Mrs. Briggs was a great knitter 
Mrs. Potter arranged to supply her with yarn. One evening 
as the shades of night were fast deepening, Jerusha run out 
of yarn, and started for Mrs. Potter's for a supply, rather 
against the advice of her husband, as it was not entirely safe 
in the intervening woods, nothing but a trail marking the 
way, it being before the Campbell road was opened. She 
bravely set out, however, and after crossing the brook, and 
when near her destination, she was alarmed by a rustling, 
shambling noise in the undergrowth, when, to her horror, close 
at hand, advancing, she discovered a huge black bear, a large 
fallen log intervening. Seizing a stick she pounded vigor- 
ously on the log, and bruin, astonished, trotted back to his 
haunts on the "dry-lots," while she ran breathlessly to the 
Potter house, fortunately near at hand, in her fright bursting 
in the door with a frantic rush. A la Bull Run, both parties 
retreated. 

Bears, wolves and panthers were quite abundant in those 
days, especially on the "dry-lots" hill, the numerous caves in, 
that locality furnishing them convenient lairs, from whicl 
they would make frequent excursions to the valley. Bruii 
was particularly fond of pig, which rendered it impossible to] 



LIEUTENANT SPENCER BRIGGS. 107 

raise pork by letting them run in the woods for " shuck," as 
they do in the western States, and strong log pens had to be 
erected in consequence for their preservation. Soon after the 
above adventure, and late in one evening, Spencer and his 
bride were startled by a terrible outcry from their hog-pen. 
Jerusha, on the impulse, rushed out to ascertain the cause, 
but almost instantly came flying back with the announce- 
ment that there was a bear in the pen, with the hog encircled 
in his embrace, while he was vainly trying to leap over the 
pen with his prize, but the great weight of the porker — some 
300 pounds — bafiled his efforts. Spencer at once seized his 
musket, and hastily loaded it with ball and buckshot, while 
his wife, with equal haste, with tongs grasped a live coal, to 
which she held the wick of a tallow-dip as she bio wed it into 
a blaze for the tin lantern. (Matches were not then in- 
vented.) Both succeeded at about the same time, and sallied 
forth to the rescue, while the outcries of piggy made the 
welkin ring.. Nearing the pen, to which "Lieutenant" 
boldly advanced with a cocked musket, Jerusha slid behind 
her valiant spouse and opened the door of the tin lantern, 
which she held aloft with one hand, flashing the light into 
the pen, while with the other hand she clung to her lord and 
master, shutting her eyes. The sudden light astonished 
bruin, and he halted an instant in his vain eff'ort to leap out 
of the sty with his quarry; there was a flash and a roar and 
a scream ; over backwards went Spencer, down went Jerusha, 
the gun went flying back towards the house ; there was a 
clatter of tin, a sulphurous odor of gunpowder, a suflfbcating 
smell of an extinguished candle, and all was silent, broken a 
second later by the exclamation, " I guess I've kill 'em both." 
He meant the bear and hog, not his wife, as she gave evi- 
dence of vitality in speedily squirming out of the situation 
and recovering the lantern, while he regained his gun, and 
both soon gained the house, where she lit the lantern and he, 
according to hunter usage, reloaded his gun before approach- 
ing his wounded game, this time, however, with more care, 
as the first load had been evidently overcharged in his pre- 
vious haste. Securing a batcher-knife, they were soon again 
at the field of war. Bruin was there and seemed dead, but 
it would not be safe to trust entirely to appearance, so he 



108 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

stirred him up with the muzzle of the gun, his hand on the 
trigger ready to pull at the least sign of lite. But the bear 
was really dead— nine buckshot and a ball, with such a 
'charge of powder behind, at short range, had passed through 
his head ; but piggy was nowhere in sight, having retreated 
into the back parlor bed-room of his palace. With knife in 
hand, " Lieutenant" leaped nimbly into the arena, his first 
attention being to the pig, to butcher him if badly injured, in 
order to save the pork. The pig, though somewhat excited 
and nervous, was uninjured, which hastily ascertaining, 
Spencer severed the jugular of the bear, to render the meat 
edible by proper bleeding. He had fortunately fallen near 
the slide-door of the pen. Upon this being opened, it 
required the united efforts of both to drag him out, when 
Spencer at once proceeded to skin him, while his wife went 
to procure the help of Baxter Gage to assist in dressing and 
" swinging up" the monster game. All the neighbors feasted 
on bear steak the next day, and the shaggy coat of bruin, 
properly tanned, did duty as a lap-robe for many years. 

Some years later, and when their lirst-born son, Spencer — 
born May 15, 1793, and the first child born at East Sauquoit 
— was a lad in his teens, the old man, having some business 
with " Elder" Goodier, who had settled in Litchfield, near 
Cedar Lake, took the lad along with Lim in the sleigh. The 
road at this time had been cut out through the woods up 
through the Campbell neighborhood and over the "dry-lots" 
hill to Goodier's. That part of the road was abandoned a 
few years since. This road, although rough and unworked, 
now that the deep snow had been trodden down with the 
travel, was in capital condition, and with the rude old sleigh, 
strong and reliable, with " natural crook" runners, hewed 
beams, and " raves" pinned together, they sped along finely 
behind the spirited span of colts in which Spencer took great 
pride, and the boy called " his." Business detained him at 
the Elder's longer than expected, and night set in before he 
turned his horses homeward. There was no moon, but the 
stars shining brightly, in conjunction with the white snow, 
seemed to i-ender the road readily distinguishable, even in the 
-deep gloom of the dark forest through which their homeward 
route lay. For four miles, and until they reached Camp- 



LIEUTENANT SPENCER BRIGGS. 109 

bell's and Elkanah Hevvett's clearinfr, well down on the hill- 
side near Sauquoit, there was no habitation, all being then a 
dense, unbroken. wilderness. The first part of their route up 
the hill to the summit of the " dry-lots," was quickly sped 
over, without accident. The occasional hooting of an owl 
startliugly near sei'ved to keep young Spencer on the alert, as 
he "snuggled up" a trifle closer to the old man, m4io tucked 
the bear skin a little closer around him. As they reached the 
summit and began the descent the colts all at once evinced 
signs of fear and dashed into a gallop, which the old man 
with all his strength (meanwhile soothingly talking to his 
favorites) could not reduce to an ordinary gait. On the con- 
trary they increased their speed and veiy soon, to his inex- 
plicable astonishment, they had "taken the bits in their 
mouths," and were actually running away. He could not 
check their speed. The most he could do was to firmly keep 
them in the track, wondering " what possessed the critters to 
act so." His wonder, however, was of short duration, for 
almost with the thought, distinct above the rattle and clatter 
of the whitiletrees behind the running horses, came the sound 
of the blood-curdling yell of a panther, in pursuit. The 
keener sense of hearing of the horses had first detected the 
sound of the yelling horror, ana they wildly plunged ahead. 
But the panther gained on them every leap, as each more dis- 
tinct yell plainly indicated. Lieutenant Spencer Briggs was 
no coward, but unarmed, in the woods, with a runaway team, 

his first-born son, a mere lad — the apple of his eye by his 

side, all helpless, a i)anther pursuing and neaily up to them, 
it is not to be wondered at ihat "he felt his hair crawling up 
into his coonskin cap." He had not yet looked back.'' To 
turn his head while guiding his frightened team, he well knew 
was perilous. • Few drivers can accomplish that feat, and not 
swerve their team out of the road, and a capsize, then, was 
certain death to him and his son. His plans, however, were 
quickly laid, and i)romptly executed. Bidding young Spencer 
to stand up in front of him and take hold firmly of the reins 
forward of his own hands, he charged him on peril of his life 
to hold the colts straight in the track, and not to look back, 
no matter what happened, or what he heard, but to run the 
team home for dear life. Relinquishing the reins he wheeled 



110 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

around and faced his fate, fully determined to save his boy 
even at the sacrifice of his own life. The varmint was in 
sight and a few more leaps would land him in the sleigh. 
Their seat, improvised when they had started out from home, 
was a strip of ash flooring, about four or five feet long, firm 
and solid. This he now seized, and stepping toward the back 
of the .sleigh, to have full swing of his powerful arms, braced 
himself for the onslaught, with the ash poised edgewise high 
over his head. His position was scarcely taken when the final 
leap came. High in the air, like a bolt from a catapult, with 
flaming eyes, open jaws and distended claws, the terror of the 
American forest came flying towards him. The powerful 
blow descended with all the vigor of the old pioneer's power- 
ful frame, the edge of that bludgeon hitting full and fair on 
the neck of the animal back of the ears and with such force, 
together with the momentum of the leap, that he landed far 
over the sleigh, at the side of the road in the deep snow, evi- 
dently stunned. A moment or two had covered the whole 
transaction ; two or three minutes more and the team had 
covered the remaining distance — more than a mile — to the 
settlement, and they were safe. 

After living many years in the log-house he erected a large 
frame house (widow Samuel Allen now resides in it) some 
twenty rods to the south, one-half of the chamber being in 
one large room, which he designed for a ball room, he being 
fond of dancing and gay company, and there being no public 
hall in those days in the settlement. Still later on in life he 
became converted, joined the Methodist Church, gave up dan- 
cing, and built another house near the village (where Mr. 
Bice now resides) in which he passed his declining years, a 
worthy citizen, full of generous impulses, going to his rest 
•September 15, 1845, at the ripe age of 79, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SAUQUOIT — THE SECOND SETTLEMENT IN THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

East and West Sauquoit stand on two parallel streets, one- 
half mile from each other on opposite sides of the creek, and 
united by a cross street. The village takes its name from 
the creek which flows through the village and to the north. 
The creek was called by the Oneida Indians, Sagh-da-que-da, 
signifying "smooth, round pebbles." The Stockbridge and 
Brothertown Indians called it Sauquoit, signifying "short and 
rapid." The latter name was adopted by the early settlers 
for the creek and valley. As the village grew, the west part 
came to be known as "Savage's Corners," and the east part as 
^'Methodist Corners" and " Bethelville," and until the year 
1820, when a post-office was established in the store of 
Hobart Graves, who was postmaster and the village officially 
bamed Sauquoit, The store of Hobart Graves was at East 
Sauquoit, in the building that is now J. Truman's wagon shop. 
In the course of a few years its post-office was removed to 
West Sauquoit, to " Savage's stand," and Stephen Savage 
made postmaster. In 1832, his son, Frederick S. Savage, 
was made postmaster, Dr. A. B. Bligh in 1846, Dr. Jeremiah 
Knight in 1850, and George M. Brownell in 1851, who made 
David Seaton his deputy, who performed the duties of the 
office, and at the expiration of the term he was made post- 
master, which office he held fifteen years, and at his death, 
his daughter, Kate Seaton, succeeded him, and held the office 
ten years, when, in 1877, W. Eugene Nichols was appointed, 
and the office, alter being at West Sauquoit for fifty years 
was moved to East Sauquoit. The following year, however, 
(1878,) Stephen G. Savage, (a grandson of " old Stephen," the 
second postmaster,) was appointed, and the office moved back 
to West Sauquoit. The twin-villages are beautifully located 
on the slope of either hillside, in the broad portion of the 
Sauquoit valle}', and are 820 feet above the level of the sea, 
and 400 feet higher than the Mohawk at Utica. The first 
se ttler at Sauquoit, who came with his family and remained, 



]^22 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

was Theodore Gilbert, Sr., who built his home near the 
Burning Spring, in the winter of 1789-90. The same winter 
the three young pioneers, John and Sylvester Butler and Asa 
Shepard, came in and built their cabin together on the " pio- 
neer road," northwest of the village, and Phineas Kellogg 
built a log-house north of the village, near the Tucker brook, 
but did not remain there as one of the settlers. Mrs. Plumb- 
and two children, (wife and children of Joseph Plumb,) came 
from New England soon after and occupied the " Phin." 
Kellogg house. In 1791, came William Babbitt, William M. 
Winship, Captain Abner Bacon and David Ostrom ; and north 
of the village, Charles Cooledge, Zenas Merrill ; and the next 
year Camp Parmelee. At East Sauquoit, came first in 1791, 
Lieutenant Spencer Briggs and Baxter Gage, and on the east 
hill, Simeon Coe, Elisha Wetmore, Moses Campbell, Jr., and 
Elkanah Hewett, and northeast of the village, Ensign Josiah 
Hull, Nathan Robinson, Moses Campbell, Sr., and Howe 
NiciioLs; north of the village. Captain Kirtland Griffin; at 
South Sauquoit, (" Davis' Forge" or " Farmers' Factory") came 
in winter of 1789-90, Titus Gilbert, Sr., Allyn Gilbert and 
Theodore Gilbert, 2d; and in spring of 1791, Ephraim Davis, 
and in the vicinity, Enos Pratt and a Mr. Root, and some 
others whose names are not preserved, as they did not remain 
and become identified with the growth of the village. 

In the fall, William Swan, a lad of 14, died, which was the 
first death within the present limits of Paris. The first 
tavern in the valley was kept by Captain Bacon, and the first 
store by Drs. " Dick and Jack" Perkins, in 1794-95, succeeded 
bv Judoe James Orton, who added tavern facilities to the 
store, and who sold out to Stephen Savage about the year 
1806. On Judge Orton's books, September 15, 1806, he is 
charged with " five shillings and sixpence," paid to Mr. 
Spofford for making a " sign post," at which time he took 
possession, and it was afterwards known as " Savage's Stand." 
Stephen Savage afterwaixls, and about the year 1812, leased 
the southwest corner of the Presbyterian Church lot and 
erected a store thereon, which he carried on as a store during 
his lifetime, the old tavern stand being carried on by his son 
Frederick, Cyrus Chatfield, Ransom Curtiss and others, from 
time to time. Stephen Savage also owned the grist mill at 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 113 

one time, and in partnership with Naaman W. Moore, founded 
the paper mills. He was an old-fashioned merchant, and 
there being no rivals at that early day, he had things his own 
way in regard to prices. On one occasion his stoi-e was 
entered by burglars, who carried off some two hundred dol- 
lars worth of goods, and for a day or two " Uucle Steve" 
mourned his loss as one without hope, but finally rallied his 
. faculties and went thi-ough his stock of goods in the store 
and " marked the prices up" on every article, so that when 
sold, his loss would he made good, and perhaps a little 
more. 

His wife died in 1832, and he again married ; his second 
wife being Nabby Bacon, widow of Dr. Spaulding Pierce, 
who survived him many years, and died at the house of her 
son, William Pierce, in the month of May, 1872, aged 90 
years. 

He died December 4, 184-8, at the ripe old age of 78 years. 
The old store was afterwards kept by R. E. Kaple, Peter 
Kneaskarn and Solomon Rogers, and was finally removed to 
the rear of the Brownell store at the mouth of the Silk Mill 
street. The old Savage stand was kept latterly by Paul R. 
Miner, Stephen Medbury, and last by Joseph Mason, when on 
April 5, 1862, it burned down, and Mr. Mason built the pres- 
ent hotel, on the site which was afterwards kept by A. Van- 
valkenburg, a Mr. Bradt, W. H. Slover, and for the last ten 
years by the present popular landlord, Mr. Alfred Rogers. A 
store was opened in the Masonic Hall building, about 184-9, 
by Davis & Day, (James L. Davis and Almeron Day,) who 
sold out to Calvin E. Macomber, Mr. Davis removing to Utica, 
to the Franklin House, and afterwards the Central Hotel. 
Mr. Day removed to Litchfield, and founded a store at Day's 
Corners. The first merchant at East Sauquoit was Martin - 
Hawley, the store standing acro-ss the road east of Mr. Tru- 
man's wagon shop. The building was afterwards moved 
down the main road to the west, near the school house, and is 
a part of Mr. Truman's residence now. Henry Cram had a 
store on the " corners" soon after. Mr. Hawley removed to 
Paris Hill, and was succeeded by Hobert Graves, Hobert 
Graves & Son, Hobert Graves, Jr., who had for partners at 
Q 



114. HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 






different times, John Milton Butler, William W. Hickox 
and Ezra C. Southard, and was succeeded by Southard & 
Hammond and Mdes & Hale and Andrew Mills, who mar- 
ried a daughter of Elisha Wetmore, and who was after- 
wards a merchant at Paris Hill, and now resides near Frank- 
lin Furnace. His partner was Samuel Hale. Mills and Hale, 
in company with William Royce, about this period, bored for 
coal at the mouth of Crane's " gulf," near Elijah Davis' rope 
walk, but did not find any coal. Solomon Rogers was the 
next merchant at the " corners ;" first Rogers & Harrington, 
then Rogers & Adams, (Harry W. Adams, now of Lenox,) and 
afterwards alone ; he was succeeded by J. M. & A. Gray, 
(James Madison and Alonzo, sons of Joi'dan Gray, who kept a 
little grocery,) and they were succeeded by Erastus Everett, 
then Hon. M. L. Hungerford, Davis & Dav, Birdsall & Hull, 
William Harrison Royce, Dr. Maltby, James Moultou and the 
present merchants, Miller & Nichols. Other merchants there, 
have been Ira Edwards, Eugene Royce, Rufus G. Priest and 
R. D. Richards ; and in the valley between the two villages : 
Brownell & Son's store, (on ihe Franklin Factory yard,) and 
at the mouth of Silk Mill street, George M. Brownell & Son, 
C. G. & A. E. Brownell, Brownell & Rogers, (C. G. Brownell 
and H. C. Rogers,) Henry C. Rogers, H. N. Shepard & Son, 
Slover & Savage and Savage & Johnson. Henr}^ Cram kept a 
tavern, now the residence of Thomas Garlick and Nathaniel 
Babbitt, where Asher Gallup now lives. The principal tavern 
there for years, was the house south of the Academ}^, now 
the residence of Mr. Stelle. Enos Knight first kept i!:, then 
his son William ; U. T. Harvey, who removed to Sherburne ; 
Daniel Griggs, a Mr. Eliott, Daniel Walton and others; the 
last landlord being Reuben Peake, who kept the house many 
years. 

The tavern at South Sauquoit. known as the Burning 
Springs Hotel, stood in the forks of the roads — one leading 
from the main road over the high ground south through the 
Bently neighborhood. When first settled, this was the main 
road to Cassville and Bridgewater, the road along the creek 
not being built until many long years after. The hotel was 
erected by Austin Graves in 1828, and was designed for a 
" watering place," a bath and spring house being erected in 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 113 

the extreme north of the flat-iron shaped lot, and extensive 
barns at the south of the hotel. The old bath house now 
stands some fifty rods south on the Clayville road, and con- 
verted into a dwelling house. A pipe led from the bath 
house to the hotel, conveying the collected sulphureted hy- 
drogen gas from the " waters," terminating in a burner in the 
bar-room, where the jet was ignited. Mr. Graves was suc- 
ceeded by He/man A. Barrows, who carried it on until his 
death, which took place November 28, 1848, aged 38. The 
hotel then passed into the hands of William Collins, who kept 
it some years, when he rented it and removed to Rome, N. Y., 
-where he now resides, Theodore C. Gilbert and others keeping 
it. It was finally destroyed by fire in March, 1859. 

Major William Gere built the first tannery at East Sau- 
quoit, at the foot of the hill on the south side of the road 
leading to Norwich Corners. After a few years he met with 
reverses, and the property went into the hands of Seth Smith, 
who exchanged it for a farm with Josiah Mosher, in the Por- 
ter neighborhood. Mr. Mosher and his sons, George W. and 
S. Emerson, carried on the tannery some years. Major Gere 
afterwards carried on the tannery opposite Deacon Hubbard's 
wagon shop, in the village, on Tannery Brook, built by John 
Curtiss ; afterwards William J. Eager carried it on until his 
death, February 14, 184-0; then William Royce and his son 
William Harrison, and then his son Henry M. This tannery 
has been lately demolished by Eugene Nichols, who has 
erected a residence on the front of the lot. Major Gere was 
also a partner with Ark Jenks in the oil mill near Davis' 
forge, at South Sauquoit, (now the upper paper mills,) about 
the year 1808. Their advertisement appeared in the Colum- 
bian Gazette, May 16,1808: "Linseed oil in quantities for 
sale at their mill," &c. Major Gere, some years later, carried 
on a shoemaker's shop, and finally removed to Utica. He 
was born in Groton, Ct., in 1776, came to Sauquoit in 1802, 
was a prominent business man for many years in Paris, a 
member of old Paris Lodge, F. and A. M., and died by his 
own hand in Utica, November 25, 1849, aged 73. 

Deacon Abijah Hubbard carried on the wagon and sleigh 
manufactor}' for many years opposite the tannery. Deacon 
Hubbard came to Sauquoit at an early day, and was an ex- 



110 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

tensive manufacturer of wagons, &c., in those days. He was 
one of the first elders of the Presbyterian Church when it 
adopted that form of government, and was ordained in 1833, 
and continued in the position during life. He was a kind 
neip-hbor and esteemed by all, passing away July, 1868. One 
son, George A. Hubbard, survives him and is a wagon-maker 
in Philadelphia, Pa., and a surviving daughter, Sarah, wife of 
Dr. Wadsworth, a dentist, resides in Brooklyn, N. Y. His 
second wife, Esther A., daughter of Lieutenant Spencer 
Briggs, resides on the old place, and is again married, to 
George Wadsworth. A little south of his shop was the organ 
factory of Oliver Prior. At one time, Mr. Andrews (aftei'_ 
ward of Waterville, and lather of the Mr. Andrews, organ- 
maker, of Utica,) was associated with him : also Rufus Bar- 
nard. This was the pioneer organ factory in Central New 
York. In the later years of his life, Mr. Prior invented and 
manufactured the Harmonist, which was the first inception 
of the instruments now known as melodeons, family organs, 
&c. 'Squire Asahel Curtiss, Ezekiel Hawley and General 
Gates (who still survives) were the principal saddle and har- 
ness makers. The Royces, James Seatou, George and Daniel 
Gricfgs, H. Norton Robinson, John Olmstead, Major Gere, 
Zabine Luce, Samuel Robbins and Samuel Cheeuey were the 
prominent shoemakers, and George Tinker at West Sauquoit, 
who built the house now occupied by widow David Seaton. 
He was formerly a resident of Marshall, and was married 
there to a Miss Bowker, and he now resides at Palermo, 
Oswego County, at an advanced age. The first town meet- 
incr at the organization of Marshall was held in his house, 
February 21, 1829. Morgan L. Antisdel was also a promi- 
nent shoemaker at West Sauquoit. He first settled on Paris 
Hill, was afterward at Willowvale, and then removed here, 
where he remained during life. Mr. Badger, StiUman Wells 
and Nehemiah Walton were cabinet-makers ; also, David 
Loring, who also attended to the undertaking; he also worked 
at the millwright trade and made carding machines. His 
hou.se and shop stood on Mill street, a few rods west of the 
present residence of ex-Sujiervisor William F. Mould. He 
was a prominent man in educational and other enterprises, 
and a leading member of Paris Masonic Lodge, and one of 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. Il7 

the first officers of Sauquoit Lodg-e, No. 150. Soon after the 
death of his wife, his health became impaired, and to add to 
his misfortune, in the spring of 1850, his shop, attached to his 
house, caught fire, communicating to the house, and when 
discovered was well under way, and the old man was with 
difficulty rescued from the flames. Everything, including his 
valuable library and London Encyclopaedia, was destroyed, 
and he never recovered from the shock, and died at the resi- 
dence of his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Bligh, in the fall of 1850., 
Charles Robinson, the hatter, lived nearly opposite the Loring 
place. He was the son of Nathan Robinson, one of the pio- 
neeis of 1791. He was a prominent man in all the growth 
of the village, and was Justice of the Peace many years. His 
wife was a daughter of William Babbitt, the pioneer. Some 
years ago they removed to Cooperstown, where his wife died. 
One son, Frank, survives them, a prominent business man 
there, and another son, H. Norton, is the well-known real 
estate broker in Syarcuse. The old 'Squire, with a widowed 
daughter, makes his home at Knowlton, Wis. 

Most of the "daddies" of those days were strict disciplina- 
rians, and acted up to the old adage of "spare the rod and 
spoil the child," and the district schools were also run on that 
plan. One day 'Squire Robinson was |)eiforming the " pain- 
ful duty" of giving one of his boys the salutary penalty of 
disobedience, with a " rope's end." The scene of the reckoning 
was the barn, which stood south of the road and side of 
"Uncle" David Loring's, the line-fence only dividing. Uncle 
David, being at his barn, heard the loud outcries of the lad, 
and very soon stuck his head over the fence and his nose into 
the business, and remonstrated with the 'Squire for " treating 
the boy so harshly." The old 'Squire resented the interfer- 
ence, and the neighborl}^ discussion verged on a quarrel ; the 
boy, wholly forgotten meantime, quietly slipped away. 
Among other things he ureed that it was an easy matter to 
govern the boys by " moi'al suasion," treating them kindly, 
giving them good advice, and not get into a passion, &c., «&c., 
and, above all, to " enlighten their understanding." The old 
'Squire berated him soundly for interfering in his family 
government, and " would thank him hereafter to mind his 
own business," and they parted in a "huff," and did not 



I 



118 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

speak to each other again for several days. Their next con- 
versation, a few days later, was opened by the 'Squire, who,, 
busy at work near a front window of his hat shop, in the 
west end of his dwelling, was suddenly startled by a loud 
rattling and clattering in Uncle David's cabinet shop, across 
the way, accompanied with loud outcries and a rush and 
scramble down the stairs, and in a trice Uncle David and his 
son Riley emerged into the front yard, the old man in a tow- 
ering passion, the "wen" on his bare, bold head fairly 
glowing, while with a piece of board he was vigorously pad- 
dling the lad, who was " raising the neighborhood " with his 
yells. The window-sash of the hat shop slid to the right, the 
old 'Squire's head was thrust out, his spectacles pushed up on 
his crown, and "That's right, David, [whack,] that's right,. 
[whack,] give it to him, [whack ;] enlighten his understand- 
ing, [tvhack;] give him good advice and moral suasion — with 
a board !" At the sound of his voice and these taunts. Uncle 
David turned livid with rage, and while they resumed their 
neighborly conversation, broken otf several days before, Riley 
was forgotten, who nimbly mounted the red ladder — that 
always stood leaning on the shop — and perched himself on 
the roof After the argument was concluded, Uncle David 
bethought himself of the boy, and very soon discovered his- 
whereabouts, when he pulled down the ladder, and, leaving, 
the boy on the roof, resumed his duties in the shop. After 
an hour or two, his ire having abated, he replaced the ladder 
and Riley came down, and harmony was restored. 

Other prominent millwrights in the valley were D. Sheldon 
Marsh, (deceased,) Hiram and Titus Gilbert, (both deceased,) 
Roswell Eastman, George W. Holman, Alpha Smith, (de- 
ceased,) and John Seaton. 

Next east of David Loriug's house stood a shop where a 
Mr. Scripture, at an early day, manufactured patent cheese 
presses ; afterwards a Mr. Handy made heavy wooden rocking 
and office or bar-room chairs ; and later on was used as a 
wagon shop by Joseph Pratt and his son John, and also by 
'Squire Samuel Allen, Further up the street stands Captain 
Knight's blacksmith shop, which for many years was noted 
in the valley. Daniel Wells also had a blacksmith shop near 
the Tannery Brook, and among his specialties were a frame 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 119 

and facilities for shoeing oxen, which were much used at an 
early day by the farmers. T. L. Switzer's blacksmith shop 
was north of the village, and a Mr. Risley had a gun shop 
south of the tannery. Captain Knight was a famed horse- 
shoer and forger of mill and factory work, and celebrated for 
his skill in hardening and tempering steel, especially mill- 
picks for dressing the hard mill-stones. It would sometimes 
occur that several would be waiting their turn for the com- 
pletion of their job, and on such an occasion, the dinner hour 
arriving, the hospitable Captain would invite those waiting 
to dinner. On such an occasion Mrs. Knight announced din- 
ner, the waiting farmer chancing to be 'Squire Todd. The 
genial Captain invited the 'Squire to dinner, remarking that 
"as it was Monday and 'washing-day,' the best he could offer 
him would be salmon." "Ah, ha ! salmon ; well, really, you 
could not have anything to suit me better; I'm passionately 
fond of salmon, but rarely get an}-, as the fish peddlers that 
come through the valley seldom come up on the hill to sup- 
ply us." As the}'' entered the house, Mrs. Knight, flushed and 
heated with her washing-day dutie.s, looked unutterable 
things at the Captain for " bringing company to dinner on 
washing day," but before she could get in any apologies or 
excuses, he courteously seated his guest to the table, which 
was neatly spread. On a large platter, in the center of the 
table, was a towering pyramid of golden mush, oi- hasty pud- 
ding, hot, quivering and steaming, and at each plate were 
bowl and spoon, while large pitchers of cool, delicious milk 
garnished the table, all of which was soon served, the con- 
versation never lagging. The 'Squire did ample justice to 
the mush and milk, thinking that being the first course, the 
salmon would soon come. It was the first and only course 
that day. The nearest approach to salmon was its color — it 
was .srt^won-colored. 

'Squire Jared P. Todd was an early settler, born in North- 
ford, New Haven County, Ct., and came to Paris at an early 
day, his farm where he settled being just east of Simeon Coe's 
on the hill. He was Justice of the Peace many years, and 
Supervisor in 1829-33-34. His farm house burned down in 
April, 1864, when he removed to the village — EastSauquoit — 
and purchased the old homestead of Lieutenant Spencer 



120 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Briggs, where he resided ever after. His eldest son, Captain 
Flavel, removed to Waco, Texas, about 1850, where he still 
resides; another son, Chauucy, is in a western State, and his 
youngest sod, Dr. Ami, is in the oil regions (Titusvdle) of 
western Pennsylvania. His daughter, Mrs. Samuel Allen, at 
his death succeeded to the Briggs homestead. He was genial 
and social in a marked degree, and greatly respected by his 
townsmen, and in the last years of his life, he was always 
called upon to preside at town meetings. He passed away 
May 25, 1870, aged 79. 

Hon. William Knight was one of the heading men in town, 
Member of Assembly in 1836, and later in life, Justice of the 
Peace for sixteen consecutive years ; also Justice of Sessions ; 
was one of the prime movers in founding the Academy, and 
its Secretary for many years, and latterly President of the 
Board of Trustees ; was several years Master of old Paris 
Lodge, F. and A. M., and charter member of Sauquoit Lodge* 
No. 150, and ten years its Master, and in 1862-63 he was 
Grand Steward of the Grand Lodge. His social qualities 
won the friendship of all, and at his death — after an illness 
of a few days — he was honored by the largest funeral in the 
history of the town. He passed away on Washington's Birth- 
day in 1875, aged 75. His father, Enos Knight, died April 
20, 184*9, aged 71. His only brother, George H. Knight, went 
West and died about 1S35, and lies in the old burying ground 
in the heart of the city of Cleveland, Ohio. At the head of 
his grave flourishes a thrifty hickory tree, planted by Captain 
Knight on a visit to his grave in the spring of 1836. A sis- 
ter, Patty, alone survives, the wife of the old miller and mer- 
chant, Harry W. Adams, now residing at Lenox. Madison 
County, N. Y. 

Among the old-time tadors was U. T. Harvey, at East 
Sauquoit, who married a daughter of Elkanah Hewitt ; he 
afterwards kept the hotel for some years, and then removed 
to Sherburne, the popular landlord there for many years, 
where he died a few years since, his wife surviving him. 
James L. Davis, who also married a daughter of Elkanah 
Hewitt, learned the trade of Mr. Harvey, and succeeded him 
in the tailoring business, carried it on for many years, when 
he sold out to Aucj. L. White and embarked in the mercantile 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 121 

business, afterwards removirio- to Utica and engaged in the 
hotel business, well and favorably known for many years* 
where he died Feb. 11, 187-i, aged 57. His wife and one son 
survive him. At West Sauquoit, Daniel Bacon, son of Captain 
Abner Bacon, was for many years the popular tailor, finally 
removing to Utica, where, with his aged wife, he still resides- 
Benjamin Allen, his competitor at West Sauquoit, removed to 
Otsego County many years since, where he still resides. In 
those days, the tailors and shoemakers and hatters did a 
thriving business, but in later years the ready-made clothing, 
boots and shoes, hats, kc, have entirely superseded the old 
way, and the business was I'uined. 

Many years ago a wagon and turning shop stood a little 
north of the village of West Sauquoit, near the brook, and 
opposite the old school house, now Mr. Sullivan's blacksmith 
shop. It was carried on by Dr. Gordon and Darius Reed, 
and many years ago it was destroyed by fire. Darius Reed, 
the wandering poet, then established his turning business at 
Cassville, and sold his rolling pins, butter stamps, etc., about 
the town, reciting his poetry to his customers in his old age. 
His advertisement for his lost draw-shave will be remembered 
by some of the old residents : 

" Taken from my shop, by some thief or knave, 
A small draw -shave ; 
Perhaps, through good intent, 
I have it to some neighbor lent. 
But d- — n the man that is so slack, 
That will not borrowed tools bring back. 

"Darius Reed." 

The old man died a few years since at an advanced age, a 
homeless wanderer. He was a quaint character, and some of 
his poetry was brimfull of wit. His allegory written after 
the building of the present Presbyterian Church at West 
Sauquoit, contained some fine points and rare good hits. The 
building was constructed of materials from the old church ; 
the basement from the stones from the old Mix distillery that 
stood near Mould Bros.' mill, on the site of their barn ; and 
some of the materials were from a cider mill ; the materials 
from the three buildings hold a colloquy in his poem, which 
he used to read from his manuscript. Prominent among the 



122 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

industries at the early day were the potasheries and distil- 
leries. Of the latter, there were eleven in toivn and one 
brewery — four at Sauquoit, four at Cassville, two at Paris 
Hill, one at Holman City, and the brewery at Clayville. 
John Butler was the pioneer distiller in town, his distillery 
being located on the Spring Brook, near where James EifFe 
now resides. Noah Hall's distillery was located on the north 
bank of the Tannery Brook, on the road east of the village 
of East Sauquoit, near where Daniel Blackraau now resides. 
He had a " run of stones" to grind his grain, and carried on 
the business largely. A sudden freshet one day swept away 
a portion of his works and destroyed his extensive hog-pens, 
washing his large drove of hogs down the stream and drown- 
ing them. He then removed to Earlville, and his distillery 
was afterward converted into a potashery by Solomon Rogers. ^ 
The Mix distillery was a substantial stone building, and 
located on the north side of the road, near Bacon & Ostrom's 
grist mill, now Mould Bros.' The Asa Shepard distillery was 
located near the Titus Gilbert mill at South Sauquoit, near 
the raih'oad crossing where Theodore C. Gilbert now resides. 
It was carried on extensively by Mr. Shepard, and at his 
failure it went into the possession of Hobart Graves, the 
merchant, who carried it on for many years. The two dis- 
tilleries at Paris Hill were Haywood's and Samuel Adding- 
ton's. At Cassville, on the road leading from the mill up to 
the village were two distilleries, one on either side of the 
road ; Thompson Snell the proprietor of one, and Marsh & 
Stanley the other ; and above the village, on the road leading 
to Paris Hill, near " Tophet" school house, Roswell Cossett 
erected his distillery; he settled there in 1801, and his son, 
C. P. Cossett, was one of the early settlers of Clayville, but 
recently removed to Lincoln, 111. One-half mile further to- 
wards Paris Hill, Nathaniel Tompkins, another pioneer, 
erected his distillery. The distillery at Holman City was 
cairied on by Geoi-ge Briggs. Deacon Joseph Howard erected 
the pioneer brewery of the county, earlv in the century, near 
the Franklin Furnace, at what is now Clayville, and thus 
supplied a great need. The favorite beverage of the early 
settlers was flip, and while they could readily obtain whisky 
from any one of the eleven distilleries, they suffered greatly 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 123 

for the want of the other important ingredient, beer, without 
which good flip cannot be compounded. To the great joy of 
all, the worthy Deacon came to the rescue, and founded a 
brewery, and also carried on a grocery store adjoining, which 
became a favorite place of resort, the leading staples of his 
trade being sugar, whisky and beer, which, put together in a 
mug and a hot flip-iron thrust into the mixture, made flip- 
His brewer was a Frenchman well skilled in the art, John 
Turouzo, who, after the brewery ceased operations, lived near 
Holman City, and a few years since, at an advanced age, 
hung himself Two of his daughters survive, Mrs. Cornelius 
Blower, Jr., of Sauquoit, and Mrs. Pindar, who moved away 
a few 3'^ears since. 

John Howard came from Pomfret, Ct., to Sauquoit in 1793, 
where he died in 1816. His son, Deacon Joseph Howard, 
was born in Pomfret, Ct., in 1766, was married to Submit 
Luce, of Somers, Ct., April 3, 1788, and came to Sauquoit 
with his father in 1793. He, as well as liis father, was one of 
the founders of the Presbyterian Church, and was on^ of the 
first deacons, which office he held for forty years. He was a 
good man and a leading citizen in town, and died June 4, 
1846. Moses Gray, Sr., came to East Sauquoit from Grafton, 
Vt, in 1793, where he built a log house a little south of where 
is now the Methodist Church. He died May 8, 1805. His 
son Moses, who came with him — they making the journey ou 
horseback — married Roxanna Howard, (daughter of Deacon 
Joseph Howard,) who was born in Long Meadow, Ct., in 
1789, by whom he had eight children : Asa, Roxauna, Elsada, 
Almira, Moses Miller, Hiram, George and Joseph Howard 
Gray. George died in Boston, Mass., Jan. 9, 1848. Hiram, who 
was one of the firm that built the upper paper mill in 1853, 
died a few years later at Sauquoit ; the other children sur- 
vive. Asa, the eldest, is the world-renowned botanist. At 
an early age he displayed a taste for that science. When a 
mere lad his fa.ther would set him at work plowing with 
oxen, and after marking out a 'land" for him, (by plowing 
two or three furrows around it,) would leave him to finish 
up. Returning in an hour or two to see how " he got along," 
he would find Asa seated on the ground wholly absorbed in 
analyzing some rare spring flower, oblivious of the fact that 



124 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

the impatient cattle had left the furrow, and dragging the 
plow after them, were quietly grazing in a distant part of the 
field, and the jilowing about where the old man left off. It 
was out of the question to make a farmer of him, so he was 
sent to school and educated for a physician. Phlebotomy 
proved equally as distasteful to him as farming; it was not 
his forte to become a " saw-bones," and he drifted into his 
natural calling of botanist, in which he has won great dis- 
tinction among the savants of the world, hia books on the 
subject being standaid authority in Europe, as well as in his 
native land. He married Jane Lathrop Loring, of Boston, 
Mass., in 1848, and now resides at the Botanic Garden of 
Harvard Univeisity, Cambridge, Mass. The youngest son, 
Joseph H., is a well-known lawyer in Wall street, New York. 
Moses Gray, who was a tanner bv trade, removed from Paris 
Furnace (now Clayville) to Sauquoit, and afterwards pur- 
chased the Lorenzo Graham farm, which he cariied on for 
many years. He was a man of stei-ling integrity, and com- 
manded the respect of all. At his death, which took place 
in 1845, his son, Moses Miller: (who the same year married 
Emily, a daughter of Captain Zachariah Townsend,) suc- 
ceeded to the farm, where he has ever since resided. Moses 
Gray's wife, Roxanna, survived him many years, and passed 
gently away, June 15, 1869, at the advanced age of 80 years. 
Lorenzo Graham, of whom the farm was purchased by Mr. 
Whitmarsh, and then by Moses Gray, was born in Hillsdale, 
Columbia County, in 1799, and at the age of four yeais came 
with his father, George Graham, to West Sauquoit, his mother 
riding the entire distance on horseback. His father pur- 
chased the farm of Asa Shepard in 1803, to which, on his 
death, Lorenzo succeeded. In 1825, he married a daughter 
of Eleazer Tompkins, (a kinsman of Governoi- Tompkins,) 
and some years later removed to Paris Hill, where he resided 
until his death, which occurred August 4, 1878, at the ripe 
old age of 77, his wife surviving him, (they had lived together 
fifty-three years,) and lives with their only son, Geoi-ge T. 
Graham, near Paris Hill. Lorenzo Graham was a member of 
old Paris Hill Lodge, F. and A. M., " made" January 12, 1824. 
The late Anson Hubbard, near Paris Hill, married a sister of 
Mrs. Graham. 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 125 

Among the early physiciaos at Paris Hill, were Dr. Amos 
G. Hull, (soon after removed to New Hartford and thence to 
Utica,) Dr. Sampson, Elnathan Judd, Seth Hastings and 
David Larrabee ; at Sauquoit, "Dick" and " Jack" Perkins, 
(first merchants also at West Sauquoit,) Spaulding Pierce, Dr. 
Norton, Dr. Gordon, Leverett Bishop, Rufus Priest, Aaron 
B. Bligh, Jeremiah Knight, Ansel and Asa Tyler, C. N. 
Palmer and C. A. Ostrom ; at Cassville, Barzilla Budlong. 
(Bligh and Knight both also having practiced at Cassville and 
Clayvillo.) 

Dr. E,ufus Priest, son of Asa Priest, the Revolutionary 
soldier, was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, in the year 
iTOi, graduated at the Fairfield Medical Academy, married 
Rebekah, daughter of Josiah Mosher, the Revolutionary 
soldier, and took up his practice at West Sauquoit. He was a 
skillful surgeon and in later years ' an accomplished dentist, 
the latter profession, however, he practiced chiefly in the 
South, where each winter for many years he was compelled to 
repair, through impaired health, making his winter home 
with his brother-in-law, Josiah Mosher, Jr., at the Mammoth 
Cave, Kentucky. He was a brilliant, social man, of keen 
wit, a fine singer, and many years leader of the choir at the 
Methodist Church, of which he was a prominent member, and 
first and foremost in the reforms of the day. His great vital 
energy enabled him to battle for years with the fell destroyer 
insidiously sapping his health, but he did not relinquish his 
practice, and through all those years carried a cheerful face 
into the sick room of his patients. He succumbed at last, 
and rested from his labors October 29, 1849, aged 55. His 
wife survives him, married to Dr. L. Bishop, of East Sauquoit. 
His children were Jane G., Gilbert M., Rebekah P., and Rufus 
G. Gilbert, a boy of fine intellect and ripe beyond his years 
while teaching school (not yet 16 years old,) near Norwich, 
Chenango county, was stricken with typhoid fever and died 
after a short illness in 1849. The other children survive. 
The eldest, Mrs. Jane G. Hyde, is the accomplished precep- 
tress of the Young Ladies' Institute at Norwich, N. Y. Re- 
bekah, wife of Rev. Munson Wadsworth, a Methodist clergy- 
man, resides in Otsego county, and Rufus G. Priest, after 
serving through the war of rebellion, sought a home in the 



126 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

" far West," and resides in Hastings, Iowa. Dr. A. B. Bligh 
was born in 1800, first practiced in Cassville, was postmaster 
when that village was Paris Hollow, and the first postmaster 
when it was changed to Cassville, in the year 1835. He 
afterwai'd removed to West Sauquoit, where he resided many 
years in the house where Widow Seaton now resides. He 
afterwards (1846,) built the house south of Masonic Hall, and 
some years later sold it to F. S. Savage, when he removed to 
Ciayville, where he died suddenly, July 24, 1856, aged 56. 
He was a skillful physician and much respected, and was 
postmaster at Sauquoit in 1846. One son only of his large 
family of boys survives him in Central New York. — David, who 
resides at Oneida, Madison county, N. Y. Dr. Jeremiah 
Knight also practiced at Cassville, and later on removed to 
Sauquoit and formed a copartnership with Dr. Bligh. He 
was an excellent practitioner, affable and genial, and a great 
favorite in town, holding various offices, and was elected 
supervisor in 1888. He died suddenly November 11, 1854, of 
heart disease, while addressing a political gathering at Ciay- 
ville. His wife survives, residing with her son. Dr. Arthur 
Knight, at West Sauquoit. Dr. Ansel Tyler was a dis- 
tinguished botanical physician, born in 1812. He married a 
daughter of Oliver Larkin, who was born in Hopkinton, R. I., 
in 1750, and came to Paris at an early day and settled on the 
hill west of Willowvale, and died June 12, 1845, at the great 
a^e of 95. Dr. Tyler first practiced at Willowvale but after- 
wards removed to East Sauquoit, purchasing the old home- 
stead of 'Squire Asahel Curtiss, where he afterward resided. 
His brother Asa was in partnership with him for several 
years, but removed to New Hartford, where he still resides, 
engaged in his profession. Dr. Ansel Tyler was highly 
esteemed, was a member of Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, F. and 
^ ]yi^ — made in 1851 — and was Master in 1854 and 1855. 
He was a leading Methodist and devoted to his profession, and 
during the appalling epidemic (" spotted fever" or cerebro- 
spinal-fneningitis) that swept East Sauquoit in the winter of 
1865-66, he bravely stood to his post, and worn out with his 
self-sacrificing exertions to stay its progress and minister to 
the suffering fever-.stricken victims, he' at length contracted 
the fatal disease and died a martyr to his profession, February 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 127 

3, 1866, aged 54. His widow survives, residing with their 
son, Dr. Clarence A. Tyler, at Aldeu, N. Y. 

Dr. Barzilla Budlong was born July 24-, 1806. During his 
long and active life he resided at Cass vi lie. His "ride" was an 
extensive one, and he was a very popular and skillful phy- 
sician, and won the friendship of all with his cheerful, cordial 
manner. He was elected supervisor in 1858 and re-elected in 
1859. In the spring of 1868, on his return up the valley 
late in the evening, he was thrown from his sulky and his 
leg broken, from which he died May 3, 1868, aged 62. Dr. 
C. A. Osborn was a promising young physician who came to 
Sauquoit a few years since and was winning many friends 
and a successful practice, when he was suddenly cut down by 
diphtheria and died after a few days' illness, leaving a youuo- 
wife and two infant children. Dr. C. N. Palmer, who came 
about the same time, removed to Lockport, where he now re- 
sides, and has attained a lucrative practice. 

Dr. Leverett Bishop, the venerable survivor of the old-time 
physicians of the Sauquoit valley, resides at East Sauquoit. 
He was born at Guilford, New Haven County, Ct., in July, 
1791, and came to Paris with his father, David Bishop, in the 
year 1808. They settled on the farm southeast of Sauquoit, 
adjoining the Josiah Booth farm on the west, the farm having 

- o 

been partly cleared up bj^ a Mr. Dunbar, who dug the old 
well on the place. David Bishop was a soldier of the Revo- 
lution, and served through the whole war. One of his sons, 
Joel, was lost at sea, off Sandy Hook, in the year 1810. The 
other son, Amos, came with the family to Paris, and at the 
death of his father succeeded to the farm. He wa.s- a veteran 
of the war of 1812, and was under fire at Sackett's Harbor. 
He was much respected in town, and died May 11, 1866, aged 
83. His son, Samuel R. Bishop, succeeded to the old home- 
stead, where he still resides with his family, one of his 
daughters, however, having recently married Charles L. Mar- 
shall, of Sauquoit, the present Master of Sauquoit Lodge, No. 
150, F. and A. M. Amos' other son, David F. Bishop, was 
educated at Sauquoit Academy, and about the year 1848 
commenced studying for a physician with his uncle, Di-. L 
Bishop, upon the completion of which he located at Lockport' 
N. Y., and is one of the leading physicians there. He is 



128 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

associated with Dr. Evens, the firm being Bishop &> Evens. 
Dr. Leverett Bishop received his education at the Hamilton 
Academy, (now Hamilton College,) Clinton. ('Squire Avery 
Rhodes, still living near Babcock Hill, went to school with 
him at the old Hamilton Academy.) Dr. Bishop studied for 
the profession with Dr. Elnathau Judd, of Paris Hill. Duriug 
the war of 1812, he was appointed surgeon's mate, (now 
termed assistant surgeon,) in which capacity he served at 
Sackett's Harbor. In the fall of 1815, he commenced prac- 
tice at the village of Skanandoa, in the town of Vernon. He 
was intimately acquainted with the old Indian chief, Skan- 
andoa, who was a Christian Indian, as well as many of his 
tribe ; some of them, however, adhered to their pagan " relig- 
ion," among whom was his sister, a noted ti-ader and located 
at the frontier post of Detroit, Mich., but twice each year she 
visited the tribe on her way to Albany, where she obtained 
her goods. On one of these visits occurred the celebrated 
Council, to which, by appointment, the Dutch missionaries 
from Albany were to meet there, to induce the whole tribe to 
adopt the Christian religion. Dr. Bishop was present at the 
Council, which lasted several days. Two hundred of the 
Onondaga tribe arrived there in Indian file the day previous, 
haltiog their line about half a mile without the Indian vil- 
lage, when a delegation went out to meet them, and with 
great pomp and ceremony conducted them in. The feast, to 
which Dr. Bishop was a guest, consisted of " succotash" and 
pork. Each guest was served with a quart bowl full of the 
former and a pound of pork impaled on a sharpened stick. 
The pagan portion of the Indians, influenced by the vindic- 
tive sister of Skanandoa, refused to renounce their traditional 
religion and adopt the white man's religion, and the confer- 
ence came to naught. The following year, 1816, Dr. Bishop 
came to Sauquoit and commenced the practice of his profes- 
sion, which he has since uninterruptedly continued. His 
first wife was Lury Bacon, by whom they had one child, 
Deborah, who married Charles D. Rogers, (son of Oliver G. 
Roo-ers, the pioneer machinist,) the Superintendent of the 
American Screw Company's extenisive works at Providence, 
R. I., where they now reside. After the death of his wife he 
married the widow of Dr. Rufus Priest. In the winter of 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 129 

1865 (February) their house at East Sauquoit caught fire in 
the night and burned to the ground, everything being de- 
stro3'ed and they barely escaping with their Hves. They 
have since resided in the house next south, the old homestead 
of Zachariah Paddock, D. D. In the year 1833, Dr. Bishop 
was ordained Elder of the Presbyterian Church, which office 
he still holds, having served a period of forty-seven years, 
and is the only survivor of the six Elders ordained at that 
time. He was "made" a Mason in Chittenango Lodge in 
1816, (sixty -four years ago,) was one of the first members 
of old Paris Lodge, founded in 1822, and a charter member of 
Sauquoit Lodge, F. and A. M., at its institution in 1849, and 
is now and for some years past has been an honorary member 
of that Lodge. Drs. Arthur Knight and John Curtiss are 
also physicians at Sauquoit ; Dr. H. R. Hughes, at Paris Hill ; 
Drs. James E. Jones and Gustavus A. Giffbrd, at Clay ville ; 
and Dr. D. Albert Barnum, at Cassville. Dr. T. E. Wilcox 
practiced there a few years ; and Dr. B. E. Forbes a short time 
at Sauquoit, and also at Clayville. 

The first schoolmaster in town was Hon. Henry McNeil, at 
Paris Hill. In the valley. Prof Charles Avery, afterward of 
Hamilton College,' and still resides at Clinton ; Charles 
Walker, a pioneer of Chicago, 111., and a wealthy forwarder 
and ship-owner there for many years ; Solomon Rogers, David 
J. Millard, Noah Davis, S. Emerson' Mosher, Charles Hewitt, 
Henry Gage, (son of Baxter Gage,) Frederick A. Gray, now 
of Geneseo, N. Y., were among the old-time school teachers, 
and before the higher schools or the Academy were founded. 

Rev. Carey Rogei's was born in Rhode Island, and at an 
early day removed with his parents to Rensselaer County, 
N. Y. Previous to 1800, he took his way to the West, with 
the usual ox-team conveying his family and supplies, and 
halted in the wilderness at what is now Oneonta, Otsesro 
County, N. Y. On the creek near that village, then a wil- 
derness, he located his home, built a dam, and erected a forge 
with a trip-hammer and the primitive tools for making the 
implements and rude farming tools then used by the pioneers. 
He was an ingenious mechanic and a skilled forger, and a 
well-educated minister, (Baptist,) and, for those days, pos- 
H 



130 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. M 

sessed a fiue library of Biblical and other works. Through 
the week he worked at the trip-hainmer, and on Sunday 
preached to the pvimitive congregation that assembled in the 
little settlement. In the winter of 1805-6, " the epidemic" — 
a type of typhus fever — swept over that section, decimating 
the inhabitants. In his ministrations to the sick and dying, 
he contracted the fatal disoase, as did also his wife, which in 
a few days terminated fatally with both within the same 
night. At daylight, the kind-hearted woman who had 
watched in their last hours, " blew the tin horn" to call some 
rof the distant neighbors to her assistance. Five little chil- 
dren were orphaned that sad night, and they — the only 
mourners present at the funeral two days later — three girls 
and two boys. The orphans were kindl}' cared for by the 
neighbors, and, as soon as possible, word was sent to the rela- 
tives in Rensselaer County, and a brother of Rev. Mr. Rogers 
came on with his ox-sled, (much of his route being through 
the woods,) and gathering together the shattered household, 
took all back to the old home, " bringing up" the little ones, 
and taking the property for his remuneration. As soon as 
the children were old enough, they were " bound out to ser- 
vice," and earned tl.eir own living. The girls in time married, 
scattered to different parts of the country, one in Pennsyl- 
vaii la, one in a western State, and one near the old home- 
stead — all rearing families, and are all now dead. The two , 
boys survive. As they grew up, they both evinced a taste 
for study, and with a few weeks' schooling in the winter and 
hard study when their day's work was done in the other sea- 
sons, they both acquired good educations, and from time to 
time, from their frugal savings, purchased of their uncle such 
of the books of their father's library as they were able. One 
of them, Aaron Rogers, learned the blacksmith's trade, and 
also, like his father, fitted himself for the ministry, and many • 
years ago made his home in Protection, Erie County, N. Y., 
then a new countr}?-, where he is passing the evening of life 
surrounded by his sons, who have grown up and are in busi- 
ness there. The other boy, Solomon Rogers, who was five 
years old when so suddenly orphaned, bereft in the same day 
of a father's kind counsels and a mother's tender care, as he 
grew up, chose the profession of teacher, for which he had i 



SECOND SETTLEMENT IN PARIS. 131 

■qualified himself, and, about the year 1820, came to Central 
New York, attracled hither by his kinsman, Amos Rogers, Sr., 
who had settled here and established the then primitive ma- 
'chine shop in the Sauquoit valley. The first year of his 
-arrival (1821) he obtained a school at Verona, and the next 
year he came to Willowvale and taught in the old school 
house, (on the corner where the road to Chadwick's leaves the 
main road,) which was afterward burned down, about the 
jear 184G. He afterward taught in the southeast part of the 
town of Paris, at the " swamp school house," and some time 
after engaged in the Farmers' Factory, where in 1827 he was 
" boss carder," during which year he married Hariiet Gilbert, 
youngest daughter of Theodore Gilbert, the pioneer. He sooa 
after removed to the Capron Factory, near New Hartford, 
and assumed the charge of the carding-room there; thence 
removing to East Sauquoit, and engaging in the mercantile 
business, and also fitted up the old distillery of Noah Hall 
-on the Tannery Brook, on the road east of the village, into a 
potashery, which he carried on extensively, employing two 
•teams constantly to collect the wood ashes from the houses 
'throughout the country, which were mainly procured in ex- 
-change for notions and nick-nacks, pins, needles, etc., carried 
by the teamsters for that purpose in a tin-peddler's trunk, 
strapped to the wagon-seat. There were numerous potash- 
eries in the town, and the potash was all sent to market in 
strong, well-hooped ash barrels, as well as the surplus 
whisky — not used for home consumption — of eleven distil- 
leries in town, all in full blast; so it made the cooper busi- 
ness a lively trade, and many cooper shops sprung up 
throughout the town. Meeting with reverses and failing in 
business, he, in 1838, took the position of book-keeper at the 
Eagle Mills, (Chadwick's,) which position he filled until the 
destruction of that factory by fire on the evening of June 25, 
1814, when he took the same position at the Franklin Fac- 
tory, (Brownell & Son,) Sauquoit, remaining with them many 
years. He again entered the mercantile business, and this 
time at West Sauquoit, which he carried on for a number of 
years, retiring, however, a few years since. He was an excel- 
' lent singer and thorough student of music under Thomas 
Hastings, the great composer of sacred music, and for many 



132 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

years "led the choir" in church, and at various times taught 
singing school. Soon after his arrival in the Sauquoit valley, 
earlv in 1822 — fifty-eight years ago — he was made a Mason 
in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, of New Hartfo'rd,of which he 
is now the only surviving member of the 2-iO that used to 
meet around their altar. At the founding of old Paris Lodge 
at Sauquoit, he became a member there, and is one of six 
survivors of that Lodge, and is now an honorary member of 
Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, F. and A. M. His children are 
Harris G., Henry C, Hiram C, Hattie E., Horace M. and 
Henrietta F. Fifty-two years of married life had rolled 
away with the family circle unbroken, when the youngest, 
Henrietta F., (Mrs. E. B. Avery,) was called to her eternal 
home, January 15, 1870, aged 32 years, 3 months and 7 days. 
Of the old village — " heads of families" — of the old-time busy 
and prosperous East Sauquoit, three only are left. Dr. Leverett 
Bishop, General LeRoy Gates and Solomon Rogers. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MOSES CAMPBELL, HOWE NICHOLS AND OTHER EARLY SET- 
TLERS. 

Moses Campbell, Sr., was born in Connecticut, September 
14, 1787, and came to Paris in 1793, and settled on the farm 
in the northeast part of the town now owned by Richard aad 
John Gilloran. He had twelve children : Agnes, Patrick, 
Sarah, Moses, Jr., Allen, Eleanor, John, Martha, Anna, Daniel, 
Elizabeth and Polly. He died April 8, 1827, aged 90 years. 
Patrick, his eldest son, lies buried on Paris Hill by the side of 
his wives and ten children. Moses, Jr., was born March 12, 
17C4, and was married to Phebe Stewart, September, 1789. 
His children were seven in number : John Dixon, Laurinda, 
Ruth Minerva, Mandone, Henry, Sidney and Leander. Moses, 
Jr., settled on the farm near Elisha VVetraore, where Philip 



MOSES CAMPBELL. 133 

Miller now resides, and when they came into the country 
(1793,) there being no road through the woods, his wife rode 
on horseback along the bridle path from Utica, her riding 
whip being a poplar twig, which, upon arriving at her future 
home in the wilderness, and dismounting, she stuck in the 
moist ground, where, taking root, it has grown to a tall tree, 
now standing in the corner of the door-yard. Mo^es, Jr., died 
Februar3^ 1817, aged 53, and with his father lies buried in 
the old burying ground at Norwich Corners. They both 
•endured the hard.ships and privations of pioneer life, and were 
held in high esteem by their neighbors and townsmen. John 
Dixon Campbell was born November 28, 1790, and was three 
3'ears old when he came into the wilderness with his parents. 
He married a daughter of Jonathan King, and sister of Noah 
E. King, and succeeded to the farm, where he ever afterward , 
resided. He was a prominent man in the affairs of the town 
and neighborhood, and possessed to a marked degree the 
faculty of commanding the respect of all his townsmen. J. 
Dixon Campbell had many warm friends to mourn his death 
when he passed away. May 1, 1878, at the ripe age of 78 
years. (His brother Sidney, of Bay City, Mich.,, alone sur- 
vives of the old family.) His daughter Phebe, wife of Philip 
Miller, succeeded to the old pioneer farm where they now 
reside, near the poplar tree which eighty-seven years ago 
did duty as a riding whip in the hands of Grandmother 
Campbell. Andrew C. Campbell, in the Griffin neighborhood, 
John Campbell of West Sauquoit, and M. Douglass Campbell 
■of East Sauquoit, are descetidants. Elkanah Hewett was 
boin in Stonington, Ct., March 10, 1758; he was married to 
Elizabeth Geie, (sister of Major William Gere,) December 80, 
1781, and came to Sauquoit in 1791, and settled on the 
l)iow of the hill west of Moses Campbell, Jr., and where 
'Squire George Campbell now resides in the old red 
house erected by him. He had a large family, and was at an 
ea.v\y day an influential " moneyed man" and much respected 
He died June 12, 1839, aged 81. His son Charles was one of 
tiie old-time schoolmasters, and now lives in the western part 
of the State; two daughters survive in Central New York : 
widow U. T. Harve}', of Shei'burne, and widow James L. 
Davis, of Utica. A little east of his house, in the swamp. 



134 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PAP IS. 

was, at an early day, quite a settlement of Indians. After 
the pioneers came in and began raising their crops, these In- 
dians, by theii- depredations, became a great annoyance, and 
the early settlers finally banded together and drove them out 
from the land on which they had "squatted," destroyed their 
wigwams and compelled them to go to their reservations at 
Brotherton and Stockbridge, set apart for them by the Gov- 
ernment Howe Nichols was born in Worcester county, Mass.,^ 
and came to Paris in 1791, and settled on the road leading 
from Norwich Corners to Washington Mills. About three- 
fourths of a mile west of the "corners" he erected his log 
cabin, his land extending to the south and adjoining Deacon 
Coe's farm on the " Mover road." After completing his log- 
house in a comfortable manner, and clearing off sufficient 
land to put in crops the next year, he returned to Massa- 
chusets, and married Lucy Lee, in the early spring of 1792,^ 
when they started on their bridal tour in an ox-sled, loaded 
with household furniture, fai'ming implements; seeds and sup- 
plies. He airived at length at the frontier tavern of Moyer, 
on the German flats, and remained over night. In the morning 
he yoked up his oxen and made ready to start, his route from 
this tavern being directly into the great M'ilderness of North 
America, and his road the old Indian tiail over the hill to the 
west. As they were loaded up and all ready to start, the old 
Dutch tavern-keeper, Moyer, noticing the young, fair bride> 
and aware of the hard, pioneer life in store iov her, said : 
" Young man ! are you taking your wife into the woods to 
bury her ?" She lived to raise a large family, and survived 
her husband many years. Howe and his young wife arrived 
safely at the log-house and commenced their struggle for a 
home. He and his wife Lucy, and their oldest son, Sylvester, 
and his wife Hannah, were among the first members of the old 
Methodist Church at Sauquoit. Howe Nichols died sur- 
rounded by his many desendants — all worthy and prosper- 
ous — in the year 1836, aged 69. 

Jonathan King settled near by Howe Nichols, in 1793,. 
coming Irom Hawle}', Mass. He was a worthy man, but died 
in the prime of life, August, 1814, aged 54. His son, Noah 
E. King, was born on the old homestead, October, 1796, where 
he ever afterwards resided ; he was a prominent man in all 



DR. ISAAC FARVVELL. 135- 

the artairs of the town, and thi'ouifh life held in ^reat esteem. 
He was an active member of old Paris Lodge of Free Masons, 
being initiated the same evening — March 15, 1824 — as his 
neighbor and life-long friend, Samuel Farwell, (afterwards of 
Utica.) He died in July, 1865, aged 69. His youngest son, 
Albert S., succeeded to the old pioneer farm, where he resides 
and also carries on a cheese factor}' which he has erected. 
The oldest son, Frederick, went West some years since, where 
he now resides, at Belvidere, 111. A sister of Noah E. King 
married J. Dixon Campbell. Dr. Isaac Farwell settled in 
that neighborhood in 1792, and was a much esteemed early 
settler, his son, Samuel Farwell, removing to Utica many 
years since, where, through life, he was identified with its 
growth and prosperity, and was largely interested in the 
building of the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, in Michigan. 
He died a few years since, and his elegant residence and 
spacious grounds on Genesee street hill, passed into the pos- 
session of Hon. ex-Mayor Charles W. Hutchinson, who now 
resides there. Joel Guild — early member of the Methodist 
Church — settled in t-he same neighborhood about the same 
time, also Robert Fames and Daniel Cloyce, who had a large 
family, all of whom lived to a great age in differeuL parts of 
the country. Anson lived always at Sauquoit, was a re- 
nowned mason and bricklayer, was boss-mason at the con- 
struction of the Harlem High Britlge that carries the croton 
water over the river. He was the life-long friend of his old 
schoolmate, Samuel Farwell, and was engaged with him in the 
erection of numerous public works throughout the country, 
his last job being the brickwork of the Farwell mansion at 
Utica. He was much respected, an .1 died a few months since 
at Sauquoit An aged brother, who came from the West to 
visit him in his last sickness, on his return, and when about 
to take the train from Utica, dropped dead from heart disease. 
One brother, Daniel, lives in Utica, and the youngest brother, 
David, resides in Cortland, N. Y. Levi Birdseye, in this 
neighborhood, and his brother, Charles Birdseye, near Elisha 
Wetmore's, were sons of John Birdseye, a pioneer-. They 
lived many years on these farms, still held by their de.scend- 
ants, and wer-e prominent men in chur-ch and society, both 
recently deceased. 



186 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

David Nourse, the old lime-burner, was an early settler on 
the original Wetraore tract; was a worthy citizen, and died a 
few years since at a good old age. Robert Dixson, a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, settled at an early day a little south of 
Moses Campbell, Jr., his son, Thomas W. Dixson, succeeding 
to the farm, where he resided many j^ears, an active, business 
man, held in high esteem. A number of years ago he removed 
to Pulaski, N. Y., where he now resides, his son Brainard 
being cashier of the bank there. 

Charles Day and Daniel Willard were old residents in the 
east part of the town, also Captain Levi Hubbard, who died 
March 1, 1863, aged 70. Johii Goodier, sou of " Elder" 
Goodier, was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, February 
1-i, 1798. He married Nancy Ann Wilcox in 1820, who was 
born in Stouington, Ct., November 1, 1802, and came from 
there to Litchfield when she was 10 j'ears old, traveling by 
team the entire distance. They came to Paris ir 1822, on the 
farm where they now reside in usual good hjalth, having 
lived together as man and wife sixty years. Ralph Edwards 
and Isaac Stedman, a hero of the Revolutionary war, were, 
early settlers in this vicinity. The Gileses, Potters, Wilcoxes 
and Waldrons also settled there at an early day. David 
Dunham M^as born in Brimtield, Mass., and came to Westraore-. 
land in 1794, with an ox-team, and was eleven days perform- 
ing the journey. He came with his family and furniture 
loaded on the conve3'ance, taking his route up the Mohawk 
valley through Utica, and in 1807 he removed to South 
Sauquoit, where he lived and died. He and his wife Tabathy, 
and his son David, Jr., and wife Elizabeth, were among the 
first members of the Methodist Chui'ch, " in the fourth or 
south class," also William F. and Wesley S. Dunham (sons of 
David, Jr.,) were added in the first revival in 181o, conducted- 
by Rev. Abner Chase. His son Darius was four years old 
when he came with his father from Massachusetts, and at the, 
death of his father he succeeded to the old homestead farm, 
also embracing the faith of his father, and was an earnest 
Methodist during life. He married Polly, daughter of 'Squire 
Asahel Curtis, by whom he had six children — four sons and 
two daughters. He was a thrifty farmer, and at an early day 
had set out and brought into bearing a fine pear tree, which 



DARIUS DUNHAM. 137 

was a great rarity at that time, and excited the rapacity of 

the village boys, who furtively watched the maturing of the 

luscious fruit. Darius also kept watch and vigil — of the 

boys. The fruit at length ripened, and the boys, selecting a 

pitch dark night for their foraging raid on the toothsome 

beauties, sallied out. Arriving at Baxter Gage's, they put 

forward one of their number to reconnoitre, while the rest hid 

in Baxter's barn. After what seemed to them an interminable 

time, the scout at last returned and reported " the coast all 

clear," and all apparantly asleep at the farm house. Que by 

one they quieth'^ filed out of the barn, and silently took their 

stealthy march along up the road. Arrived at last by a 

round-about way, creeping barefooted through the garden into 

the coveted ])resence, they stood at the loot of the tree. In 

breathless silence they listened a moment, and as no sound 

came from the old farm house, they carefully " boosted" one of 

their number into the tree, who proceeded to feel cautiously 

around, testing with thumb and finger for the ripe pears, 

which he picked one by one and reached tnem down into the 

upreached hands of the expectant group below. As their 

pockets began to fill their courage rose in a ratio, and the 

danger did not seem quite so imminent, and something akin 

to a subdued chuckling satisfaction at their success escaped 

them. Their elation was short-lived however, as the old man 

Darius stealthily approaching, all at once appeared in their 

midst, whereupon the boys in a twinkling glided away into 

the darkness, scattering in all directions, rendering pursuit 

liopeless, but Darius felt pretty sure of the lad in the tree, 

who, unconscious of the "change of base," so silently effected 

below, continued to pass down the pears, which Darius 

quietly received, making no sign. At length a whisper from 

the tree inquired "if they had got enough." "Yes, plenty, 

and you had better come down — still," was the whispered 

reply. The lad " skinned it" down the trunk cautiously, and 

when within reach, the old man embraced him firmly and 

shouted, in a terrible tone : 

" Ah ! ha ! you rascal, I've got ye !" 

" Wal ; it's no great git; 'taint nobody but Ray Nichols," 
was the astonishing reply of the captured lad. 

Ray, the son of old Captain Nichols, the Revolutiouaiy 



138 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

soldier, was not over bright, and it would be useless to prose- 
cute him for the depredation, and as neither threats or prom- 
ise of reward could make him divulge the names of his 
companions, Darius was forced to put up with his loss. One 
day when the old man was at Utica, his team of spirited 
young horses took fright and ran away, making " kindling 
wood" of the wagon, and he was thrown violently on the 
pavement and fearfully injured. He was taken up and 
tenderly cared for, but his life hung by a thread for inany 
weeks, finally however recovering, but his constitution was so- 
shattered that he was never strong again, although he lived 
many years. He was an enthusiastic Whig in politics, and a- 
warm admirer of Henry Clay, whom he strikingly resembled 
ill countenance. Having filled well his station through life, 
honest and industrious, an earnest Christian, he peacefully 
went to his rest, October 28, 1874-, at the age of 84;. Two- 
sons survive him, N. Cooley, who resides m the village, and 
George D. Dunham, who resides on the old homestead, who 
has some of the furniture brought by his grandfather, David 
Dunham, from Massachusetts, in 1794;, which he preserves 
as cherished relics of the olden time. 

Camp Parmelee came to the valley in 1792, and settled 
north of West Sauquoit, where Hial Fitch now resides. He 
was an energetic old pioneer, and one of the first Trustees of 
the Methodist Church, in 1801. His wife, Zebida, and his 
daughters, Dolly, Rhoda and Irene, were among the first 
members, in the " third or west class." Irene, who married 
a Birdseye, is one of the six survivors of the original mem- 
bers, and resides in the West, His son Noah was afteward a 
leading member, and removed to Ohio a few years ago, where 
he has since died. On one occasion, many years ago. Camp, 
upon returning home from church, where he had listened to 
a powerful sermoo on faith — " that it would move moun- 
tains," etc. — became impressed with the subject in a great 
degree, and discussed it warmly with the " hired man," and 
by the time they had finished " cutting up potatoes" in the 
cellar to feed the cattle, and had arrived together at the barn 
to "do the chores," he had reached a high state of enthusiasm 
on the question, and proposed to demonstrate the matter prac- 
tically. He accordingly mounted the big beam above the 



ENSIGN JOSIAH HULL. 139 

" bay," and taking a bundle of straw under each arm to serve 
as wings, declared " that he had faith that he could fl}'^ across 
the broad threshing floor and alight on the opposite beam," 
and bade the hired man look on and "see what faith could 
accomplish." Flapping his arms and the bundles of straw 
up and down to get up the wing-motion, at the same time 
exclaiming, "One to begin," (flap,) "two to show," (flap,) 
" three to make ready," (flap,) " four to go," (flap,) and he 
sailed oft' into .space, "flop" down to threshing floor, a fall of 
some twelve or fifteen feet. The old faith-demonstrator was 
a " good deal " shook up, but the bundles of straw eased the 
shock .soniewhat, and he fortunately escaped without broken 
bones. He was a good farmer — a little eccentric, perhaps — - 
but withal a sincere Christian, with unshaken faith in theoiy, 
and departed this life many 3'ears ago, and none of his de- 
scendants remain in the valley. 

Ensign Josiah Hull, a soldier of the Revolution, came early 
in the 90's, and settled on the back cross-road north of Crane's 
gulf, where he lived many years, removing to Oswego County 
about 1840, where he died. He was a prominent man in the 
early history of that section, and a great fox-hunter, enjoy- 
ing the " heavenly music" of the hounos keenly. W. H. Hull, a 
prominent merchant of Ottawa, 111., is a descendant. Stephen, 
a son of Ensign Hull, married a sister of Anson Clo3'es, and 
built the house on the brow of the hill east of the Methodist 
Church, where he lived many years, and died about the year 
1836; his widow afterwai'ds marrying Henry Crane, sold the 
farm to Anson, her brother. Their sons were Augustus S. 
and Horace. The latter went west some twenty years ago, 
where he died a few years since. Augustus always resided 
at Sauquoit. In returning from Clayville just at dark one 
evening in October, 1877, riding in a sulky, when opposite 
the N. W. Moore place, he was met by a runaway team, which 
collided with his conveyance, which halted them, and the 
shock threw him out, breaking his neck. Passers-by at once 
pulled him from beneath the halted horses, carried him into 
the house, but life was extinct. He was instantly killed. His 
sudden and untimely death shrouded the village in gloom, as 
he was a great favorite in the community for his cheerful and 
pleasant manners and genial disposition. He had held many 



140 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PAEIS. 

■offices of trust in town, was one of the oldest members of 
Sauquoit Lodoje, F. and A. M., and had held neai-ly every 
office in the Lodge. He was a kind-hearted, active brother 
of the " Mystic-tie," and a worthy scion ol the old pioneer 
and Revolutionary hero. Ensign Josiah Hull. 

Hobart Graves came to the valley early in the century, 
(1812,) and settled a little north of East Sauquoit. He was 
a soldier of the Revolution in the last years of the war. His 
father was also a soldier of the Revolutionary war, was taken 
prisoner by the British, and died while a prisoner of war in 
the city of New York. Hobart Graves was born in East 
Haddam, Ct., in 1765, and was married to Mercy Baker, 
October U, 1784-; removed to Ulster County, N. Y., 1793, and 
to Paris in 1812. Their children were : Elizabeth, Hobart, Jr., 
Henry, Sarah, Sophia, Mercy, Mary, Sarah, 2d, and Laury. 
Hobart, Jr., was a prominent merchant at East Sauquoit from 
1815 to 1825, was a member of old Paris Masonic Lodge at 
its organization in 1822, and was the first Secretary of the 
Lodge ; he was also the first Captain of the old Rifle Com- 
pany. He removed from the valley many years ago, and died 
February, 1854, aged 66. Sophia was born November 14, 
1794, and married Joel Griffin, whom she survived many 
years, residing at East Sauquoit with her son, Milton Griffin, 
now both deceased. Mercy, born September 14, 1797, mar- 
ried William Royce, January 4, 1815, and died February 1, 
1866. Mary, born June 20, 1800, married Zachariah Paddock, 
D. D., August 11, 1822, and died at Binghamton, N. Y., May 
20, 1871. Sarah, 2d, born October 30, 1803, married Dr. R. 
Lord, of Boonville, N. Y., where she died February 6, 1857» 
Laur^^, the only surviving child, was born June 20, 1806, 
mariied Ezra C. Southard, the old-time partner of her brother 
Hobart, Jr., and removed to San Fiancisco, Cal, many years 
ago, where they both still reside. Hobart Graves was an 
active business man, and a merchant as early as 1815, at 
which date Zachariah Paddock, D. D., was a clerk in his 
store, and afterwards married his daughter. November 14, 
1823, he purchased the distillery of Asa Shepard at South 
Sauquoit, which, with a potashery near the distillery, he car- 
ried on for many years. He was a consistent Christian and 
■a leading member of the Methodist Church, and greatly re- 



ELISHA WETMORE. 141 

spected by all. Hobart Graves, the hero of the Revolution, 
passed away January 11, 1853, aged 88 j/^ears. 

Morris Maltby was born in Bradford, Ct., in 1772, came to 
Sauquoit with his uncle, Deacon Simeon Coe, in 1791, for 
whom he worked several years, and then bought the farm 
adjoining to the west, where he lived to a good old age, a 
prominent church member and worthy man, and died Decem- 
ber 6, 1845, aged 73. His son, Deacon Isaac Maltby, suc- 
ceeded to the faru), where he resided until recently when he 
removed to the village of East Sauquoit. 

Augustus Wells was an old resident, living near to Hobart 
Graves. His sons weie : Stillman, Joel, Jeremiah, Milton and 
Henry, all skilled mechanics. Joel resides in Chicago, Til., 
Jeremiah and Milton also residing in Illinois. Stillman, the 
caVnnet-maker, lived and died at East Sauquoit. Henry, 
the engineer, married Sarah, daughter of Deacon Hubbard, 
and died in Cuba, his widow marrying Dr. Wadsworth, of 
Brookl}^), the dentist. Milton also married a daughter of 
Deacon Hubbard — Sarepta — who died a few years since. 

Elisha Wetmore was one of the pioneers of the East Hill. 
In the year 1791, his father and Captain John Wetmore, 
brother of Elisha, came on and purchased a five-hundred-acre 
lot, which was divided between the two brothers, John takino- 
the north half, where Marion Birdseye now resides, and Elisha 
the south half, where James Thurston now resides. After 
selecting and purchasing the tract, they returned to their 
home in Middletown, Ct., and the two brothers made readv 
to come on and settle in. Elisha about this time was mar- 
ried, and two weeks after, leaving his wife to come on with 
his brother and family, started with an ox-team loaded 
with utensils for his new home, which, selected by his father 
and brother, he had not yet seen. At the end of about three 
weeks, he arrived at what is now Sauquoit, and stopped with 
John Butler, who had previously settled in. The next day 
(Sunday) he started on foot to find his home. Taking the 
old Indian trail, he went up the hill to what is now Nor- 
wich Corners, where, to his great joy, he found his young 
bride already arrived with his brother, Captain John, and 
wife and two children, who, coming through with a span of 
horses, had made better time. He found them in the old log 



142 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

house standing on the site of the present Harrison place. 
The log house had just been " rolled," or put up, and was yet 
without a door, window or fire-place. They hung up blankets 
at the door and windows, and thus Jived there until they 
could build log houses on their lot, nearly a mile south 
in the thick woods, where a tree had not as yet been felled. 
The first log house was built on Elisha's south portion of the 
lot, both families living together until John could complete 
his on the north part, (now Birdseye's,) into which he moved 
with his family. Elisha lived in his log house until the year 
1800, when he built the frame house that now stands on the 
farm. They raised twelve children, and both lived to see 
them all married and settled in life. Elisha was a prominent 
man in town and much esteemed, as well as his son William, 
who grew up and settled near his father, where he lived many 
years on what is now the Blackstone farm, but finally went 
west, where he died some years since. Full of years, and 
after a long and active life, loved and respected by all, the 
old pioneer of the "dry-lots hill," Elisha Wetmore, passed 
away in the year 1846, aged 77. His partner in life, who 
came into the wilderness with him, a bride of a few weeks, 
sharing with him the privations and vicissitudes of pioneer 
life, with its cares and joys, for more than half a centuiy, 
survived him but two years, when she, too, passed over the 
"dark river" to join him on the other shore, passing gentl}'' 
out of life in the year 1848, aged 79. Of the twelve children 
but two survive — the first born, a daughter in Minnesota, 
aged 87, and Emily, wife of James Thurston, aged 66, who 
reside on the old pioneer farm, now carried on by their son 
Wayne W. Thurston. 

Hiram Gilbert, son of Titus Gilbert, was born in 1798, in 
the little house near the mill erected by his father, near the 
site of the Farmers' Factory. After the death of his father, 
and as soon as he was old enough, he was " bound out" to his 
uncle, D. Sheldon Marsh, to learn the trade of millwright, 
with whom he served his full time, and with him, David 
Loring and Seth Burdick built the great overshot water- 
wheels for the numerous mills and factories erected on the 
Sauquoit Creek at that early day. He was married to Lucy 
"Harrington in October, 1821. He had a fine voice, and early 



I 



HIRAM GILBERT. 143 

evinced a taste for siuginw, which was developed by Thomas 
Hastings, the great musical composer, who taught singing 
school at Sauquoit during the years 1823-24-25. Hiram 
became a leader of the choir, and afterwards tauo-ht sinoino- 
schools at Paris Hill, Litchfield, Clinton and Sangerfield. Asa 
Shepard, who married the widow of Titus Gilbert and brought 
up her four boys, Hiram, Andrus, Grove and Titus, Jr, like 
all of the first pioneers, had subsisted mainly on corn durino- 
the first years of his pioneer life in the wilderness, and mush 
and milk, fried mush and Indian puddings were his favorite 
dishes, especially the latter, when well sweetened. Hiram, 
when a mere lad, coming into dinner one day a little late, 
(Asa having just served the Indian pudding to all the family,) 
as he seated himself at the table, noticed that the old man 
had served himself bountifully, the pudding being piled high 
up on his plate, and with a sober face, asked ; 

" Mother, \\'here is father ?"' 

" Why, Hiram ; are you crazy ? father is here at the table, 
right before your face and eyes." 

Hiram stood up deliberately, leaned way over sidewise, and 
craning his neck around, " Oh yes, to be sure, I do see him — 
behind that pudding on his plate." 

The Sauquoit Creek in those days abounded with speckled 
trout, and he being a lover of the rod and line, was an expert 
and rapid fisherman, and they used to tell the stoiy, " that 
when he wanted to go of an errand speedily up the creek, he 
invariably took his fish pole along." Early in the year 1829, 
m company with his brother Andrus, with cart and oxen, 
they took their way to Oswego county, then a new country, 
camping out in the woods at night on their way. They at 
length reached their destination and settled in the town of 
Volney, then a dense wilderness, where they set to work to 
clear off the land, first erecting a log-house, then a saw mill, 
pot-ashery, frame house, grist mill and store, having the same 
pioneer experience there that their father had in the valley 
home on the Sauquoit in 1790. Hiram, early in life be- 
came a Christian, and joined the Presbyterian Church, of 
which he was a member for nearly fifty years ; during most 
of the time leader of the choir, and for many j-ears a deacon 
in the church. In those early days, when people seemed to 



144 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

care something for religion, there were many earnest meet- 
ings and revivals there, at which Deacon Gilbert was ever an 
active and efficient worker. His house was, during many 
years preceding the great Rebellion, an "underground depot" 
for the transmission of runaway slaves. He was in close 
athnity with Gerrit Smith and Fred Douglass, the great 
Abolitionists. Many is the time his children were shown the 
deep ridges made upon the backs of the poor slaves who were 
fleeing to Canada. His love of trout-fishing was amply 
gratified in his new home, and many is the time that the late 
Hon. M. L. Lee, of Fulton, visited Gilbert's Mills, and they 
together fished on either side — for three miles — of a noted 
trout brook, striving to see which could bag the greatest num- 
ber of the speckled beauties. He had nine children : four 
boys and five girls, of which six survive : four boys and two 
girls. Of his death which occurred a few years since, (1876,) 
the Oswego Times says : " Hiram Gilbert, who died at the 
a^e of 78, removed from Pans, Oneida countv, with his 
brother Andrus, in 1829, purchased a large tract of land and 
settled at what is now called Gilbert's Mills, and during his 
life devoted his time to milling and kindred pursuits. Mr. 
Gilbert had a family of four sons, all mill owners, and five 
daughters, intelligent, enterprising and respected, and a whole 
community respect his character and honor his memory." 
His brother Grove removed from Sauquoit to Lenox Furnace, 
Madison county, at an early day, in the employ of Colonel 
Avery, where he died many yeais ago. Titus, Jr., was a very 
ingenious and skillful millwright, also deceased. Andrus, the 
only surviving brother, bereaved of his wife, is spending his 
time with a married daughter in Warrensburg, Mo. 



CHAPTER XV. 

HISTORY OF THE METHODIST E. CHURCH AT EAST SAUQUOIT 
— DEED BY LIEUTENANT SPENCER BRIGGS OB' THE GROUND 
— LAVING OF THE CORNER-STONE BY FATHER KIRTLAND 
GRIFFIN^LIST OF THE OLD MEMBERS AND THE MINISTERS 

AND PRESIDING ELDERS BIOGRAPHY OF ELDER ZECHARIAH 

PADDOCK, D. D., AND OBITUARY OF REV. ISAAC FOSTER AND 
SAMUEL WADSWORTH. 

March 16, 1801, Spencer Brigws and Jerusha, his wife, exe- 
■cuted a deed conveying one acre of ground, beginning at the 
south corner of the four highways meeting near the house 
•where Phineas Chapin then lived, (Thomas Garlick resides 
there now,) comprising the site of the Methodist Church and 
■the Academy in East Sauquoit, to the following Trustees, viz : 
Kirtland Griffin, John Bacon, Samuel Nichols, Camp Parm- 
€lee, Charles Cooledge and Elijah Davis, in consideration of 
'•thirty dollars in specie" — the traditional thirty pieces of 
silver. The instrument was witnessed by Seth Leonard Cut- 
ler and David Nichols, and acknowledged before Hugh White, 
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, April 4th, 1801, and 
recorded the same day, at 4 o'clock p. M., in Liber C. ot Deeds, 
pages 334 and 335, by Charles B. Piatt, Deputy Clerk. The 
erection of the Methodist Church on the ground was at once 
commenced, was prosecuted with vigor and completed before 
*' snow flew." The timbers were of red beech and wild cherry, 
the floor of ash, and the clapboai'ds of butternut. Samuel 
Nichols, Sheldon Marsh and their assistants, that framed and 
put together this structure, have all mouldered in their graves 
many years. Three generations have come and gone, yet the 
timbers of that old building — ^now the Academy — are in a 
perfect state of preservation, and the clapboards, not taken 
off in the alteration of the building, noticeably those on the 
rear and gables, have withstood the storms of more than three- 
quarters of a century, and are to-day as sound as when these 
old pioneer builders nailed them to the sacred edifice. 
J 



l-tG HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

At the layinw of the corner-stone of the foundation walls 
the ceremony was simple though impressive. The old Revo- 
lutionar}' hero, Father Kirtland Griffin, deeming it important 
that something should be done to mark the important oc- 
casion — although in those primitive days " parade and 
pomp were not" — in the midst of the interested little group 
there assembled, he kneeled on the corner-stone and prayed 
" that the blessing of God might rest there." At the building 
of the brick church, which was erected in 1842, to take the 
place of this old edifice, the corner-stone was laid with im- 
posing ceremon}^ a zinc box encased therein containing 
records of the church, "coins of the realm," copies of news- 
papers, both secular and religious, &c. The otdy list of those 
old members outside of that zinc box, known to exist, is 
herewith published. 

^The books and records of the church for the first forty 
years of its existence are lost or destroyed ; the following list 
is compiled from an old " Class Leader's" list, being the only 
list in existence, and of a time when the village was called 
" Betheiville," and before the post-office was established, and 
the village officially named Sauquoit. 

This is a list of the names of the members of the Method- 
ist Church at " Betheiville :" 

First or North Class. — Charles Cooledge, Jerusha Cooledge,. 
Kirtland Griffin, Ro.sanna Griffin, Elijah Davis, Jerusha Davis,. 
Hobert Graves, Mercey Graves, Cloe G. Giles, John Greenlief,. 
Anna Greenlief, Harvey Griffin, Lydia Griffin, Experience 
Dayton, Joel Griffin, Aseph Morse, Betsey Mor.se, Susan 
Averell, Lucreta Bumpus, Benjamin Looinis, Camp Griffin, 
Orpha Lasure, Robert Dire, Rachel Dire, Mabel Kellogg,. 
Rachel G. Dire, Roswell Loomis, Ezekiel Lewis, Nancy 
Lewis, Luthena Bennet, Polly Burrett, Lucy Hemmingway.. 
—32. 

Second Class. — Robert H. Griffin, Roxanna Griffin, Jerusha ' 
Crane, John Prior, Letitia Prior, Rebekah Loring, Andrew 
Clark, Vashti Clark, Howe Nichols, Lucy Nichols, Sylvester! 
Nichols. *Hannah Nichols, Benjamin Nichols, NaUianiel 
Smith, Seth Smith, Anna Smith, Syrenas Wilbon,. Sally Old- 
redge, Jerusha Briggs, Ursula Birdseye, Eli Whitcome, Ruth.i 
Whitcome, Sally Whitcome, Florilla Nourse, Nathaniel Chap- 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 147 

man, Joel Guild, Betsey Whitcome, James Howard, Dolly 
Nichols, Joho Bii-dseye, Phebe Birdseye, Abio-al Birdseye, 
Sally Maltby, Charles Birdseye, James Fanner, Nathan Clark, 
Hulday Clark.— 37. 

Third or West Clas.^. — Lemuel Shepanl, Ruth Shepard, 
Camp Parmelee, Zebida Parmelee, Temperence McCard, Bet- 
sey McCard, Levinda Howard, Susan Winship, Elizabeth 
Graham, Sally Shepard, Dolly Parmelee, Rhoda Pannelee, 
*Irena Parmelee, John Holden, Ann Holden, Jo.seph Joslen, 
Nancy Joslen, Janes Fineghan, Lucy Fineghan, Anna Davis- 
son, Dolly Jenks, Emily Cooley, Mary Ann Sniiih, Mary 
Monroe, Thomas Smith, Mary Smith. — 2G. 

Fourth or Soidh Class. — Reuben Ensign, David Dunham, 
Jr., Elizabeth Dunham, John B. Goodnough, Rebekah Good- 
nough, Ephraim Davis, David Dunham, Tabathy Dunham, 
Ezeked Sheldon, Amy Sheldon, Mary Potter, Ark Jenks, 
Perris Jenks, Eleanor Higby, Hugh Evans, Phebe Kino-, 
Clarissa Cone, Nathan Holmes, Betsey Holmes, Mary Smith, 
Grin Hewit, Mabel Kellogg, Pardon G. Richardson, Abigael 
Higby, Naoma Higby, Daniel Hewit, Polly Hewit, Annah 
Luce, Annah Luce, 2d, Betsey Fisk, Nathan Parker, Salley 
Jenks, Aminda Jenks, Cynthia Jenks, Mary Potter, 2d, 
Charles Ford, Zechariah Paddock, James Ford, Esther Ford, 
Susannah Richardson, Susan Richard.son, Elizabeth Richard- 
son, Geoi'ge Richardson, Poll}' Evans, Luther Pike, Ruth Pike, 
William F. Dunham, Wesley S. Dunham, Hannah Hopkins, 
Electa Prior, Lydia Richardson, Abigail Richardson, Betsey 
Howard. — 53. 

Fifth or Second Sottth Class. — Anson Aver\', Cyrus Stone, 
Hannah Underwood, Almira Potter, Jerusha Bacon, Samson 
Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Henry Johnson, Eli Johnson, *Levi 
Johnson, Samuel Kellogg, Sally Kellogg, ^Sophia Johnson, 
Huldah Fuller, Job Sweet, Lydia Lindel, Harriet Lindel, 
*Zebina Johnson, *Llo3'd Johnson, Grin Johnson, Horace 
Johnson, Truman Tuttle, Daniel Guild, John Guild, Olive 
Guild, Ruth Prescott, Sister Carpenter, James Fansket, 
Hervey Higby, Sister Evans. — 30. 

* There survive of that number, six, as follows, viz : Baanah Nichols, 
Irene Parmelee, Sophia Johnson, Levi Johnson, Lloyd Johnson and 
Zebina Johnsoa — the four Johnsons are brothers and sister. 



148 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PAEIS. 

List of Ministers and Presiding Elders of Methodist Church 
and number of Church Members each year. (From 1801 to 
1815, the Church was supplied with Circuit Riders :} 

Ministers. Presiding Elders. Membership. 

1815 . . Abuer Chase Chailes Giles 100 

1816 . . Abner Chase Charles Giles 178 

1817. .John Dempster Charles Giles 178 

1818 . .Goodward Stoddard . . George Garey 135 

1819. .George W. Densmore . .George Garej' 197 

1820. .Ralph Lanuing George Garey 131 

1821 . . George Peck George Garey 120 

1^22 . . Hezekiah Field Charles Giles HO 

1823. .Elias Boweu .Charles Giles 108 

1824 . . Elias Bowen Charles Giles 108 

1825 . .Zechariah Paddock Charles Giles HI 

1820. .Ephraim Hall Dan Barnes, :P«n.«,.du.i.-» . . . .399 

1827. .John S. Mitchell Abner Chase 137 

1828. .John S. Mitchell Abner Chase 160 

1829. .Alexander Irvine Dan Barnes 161 

1830. .Alexander Irvine George Garey 260 

1831 . . Andrew Peck Geoige Garey 260 

1832 . . Harry Chapin George Garey 25+ 

1833. .Elisba Wheelei- George Garey 256 

1834 . . Elisha Wheeler Elias Bowen 335 

1835 . . W. N. Pearn Elias Bowen 340 

1836 . . W. N. Pearn Elias Bowen 324 

1837 . . Moses Adams Elias Bowen 226 

1838 . . Moses Adams Zechariah Paddock 212 

1839 . . J. D. Torry Zechariah Paddock 252 

1840. .Lyman Sperry Zechariah Paddock 252 

1841 . .Lyman Sperry Zechariah Paddock 

1842. .Benajah Mason . . .Elias Bowen 240 

1843. .A. J. Dana Elias Bowen 

1844. .A. J. Dana Elias Bowen 370 

1845 . .S. Stocking Elias Bowen 283 

1846 . . J. Hartwell Silas Comfort 280 

1847. .J. Hartwell Silas Comfort 242 

1848 . . C. W. Giddings Silas Comfort 242 I 

1849 . . H. F. Row Sdas Comfort 225 

1850 . .H. F. Row Silas Comfort 330 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 1+9 

Mini-iteis. Presiding Elders^. Membership. 

LSol . . D. W. Thuistou L. Sperry 338 

LS52 . . Isaac Foster L. Sperry 332 

1853 . . Isaac Foster L. Sperry 281 

1854 . . W. Jerome Isaac Parks 274 

1855 . . W. Jerome Isaac Parks 274 

1856 . . Charles Blakeslee Isaac Parks 278 

1857 . . Charles Blakeslee Isaac Parks 240 

1858 . . G. C. Elliott Isaac Parks 198 

1859. .G. C. Elliott D. W. Bristol 251 

1860. .Geort^e Colgrove D. W. Bristol 280 

1861 . . George Colgrove D. W. Bristol 

1862 . . A. F. Matteson R. Cook 

1863 . . A. F. Matteson . . : R. Cook 183 

1864. .J. F. Crawford D. W. Bristol 202 

1865 . . J. F. Crawford William H. Olin 277 

1866 . .J. F. Crawfonl William H. Oliu 224 

1867 . . B. F. Barker William H. Olin 260 

1868 . . B. F. Bark.n- W^illiam H. Olin 1 99 

1869 . . W. S. Tisdale L. C. Queal 207 

1870 . . W. S. Tisdale L. C. (^ueal 207 

1871 . . W. S. Tisdale L. C. Queal 207 

1872 . . Harlow Skeel G. S. White '. 210 

1873 . . Harlow Skeel G. S. White 216 

1874 . . Harlow Skeel W. R. Cobb 120 

1875 . . Robert Flint A. E. Corse ." 189 

1876 . . Robert Flint A. E. Corse 101 

1877 . . Robert Flint T. B Shepherd 196 

1878 . . W. Watson T. B. Shepher-1 208 

THE LATE REV. DR. PADDOCK AN AGED AND FAITHFCL 

WORKER IX THE VINEYARD GALLED TO HIS REWARD. 

Rev. Zechariah Paddock died at Binghamton, Broome 
county, N. Y., Friday, July 4, 1879, aged 83 years. Rev. Dr 
Paddock was born in the town of Northampton, then Mont- 
gomery county, (now Fulton, N. Y.,) on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, 1798. In Febi'uary, 1804, his parents removed to War- 
ren, Herkimer county. In the summer of 1815, Zechariah 
accepted a clerkship in a dry goods store at Paris, Oneida 



150 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

county, with Hobart Graves, the old merchant of East Sau- 
quoit, and during that year was converted under the minis- 
tration of Rev. Abner Chase, in the first great revival, and 
became a member of the M. E. Church at East Sauquoit, and 
was subsequently a student of the Utica iicademy. In the 
wintei' of 1(S16 he taught school in Deerfield, some three miles 
from Utica, and in the summer of 1817 in Columbia, Herki- 
mer county. While in the latter place he was given a license 
to exhort. On the 11th of August, IH22, he was married at 
Paris, Oneida county, to Mary Graves, a daughter of Hobart 
Graves, his old emplo3'er. He had a charge at Buffalo, where 
he remained two yt'ars, and was next a))pointed to West- 
moreland circuit, Oneida county, and in 1825 to Utica and 
Paris, the charges having been united, making his I'esidence 
at Sauquoit. At the next conference the two places were 
again sundered, and Mr. Paddock was appointed to Utica. 
At this time a great revival in Utica so strengthened and 
multiplied the work, it was deemed advisable to build a new 
and more commodious place of worship, and a fine brick edi- 
fice was erected on Bleecker street, the dedicatory .sermon 
being preached by Mr. Paddock in the autumn of 1827. On 
the division of the Genesee Conference in 1828 into the Gen- 
esee and Oneida Conferences, Mr. Paddock connected himself 
with the lattei", and, at its fir.st se.ssi(m in 1829, he was aji- 
pointed to Cazenovia. to which place he was also retuined 
the following year. He was then sent to Ithaca. In 1833, 
Mr. Paddock was again sent to Utica, after an absence of only 
six 3^ears. Remaining in Utica two years, his next appoint- 
ment was Auburn, where he remained one year. During the 
years 1838, '39, '4-0 and '41, he was Presiding Elder, and made 
his residence at Sauquoit. He was Presiding Eldei- of Caze- 
novia District four years. During the thii-d year (1845) the 
honorary title of Divinitatis Doctor was conferred upon him 
by Union College. In 1846, Dr. Paddock was appointed to 
the New York Mills station, where he remained two years. 
Thence he went to Binghamtou, Oxford and Chenango Forks. 
He completed fifty years in the active mlnistr^^ Since his 
suyjerannuation, about nine years ago, Dr. Paddock resided 
in Biughamton. and continued to labor effectively. His 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 151 

funeral occurred in that city Sunday afternoon, July G, 1870 
Bishoji Peck officiating. 

Obituary of Rev. Isaac Foster, who died at Sauquoit, after 
s, residence here of many years : 

"Rev. Isaac Foster is no more among the living on the 
earth. After a protracted and painful illness, he entered into 
his rest on the 28th of August, 1864. Brother Foster was 
•emphatically a good man. His amiability and deep and sin- 
cere affection always won for him a large circle of deeply- 
attached friends, both in and without the Church. He was a 
faithful and earnest laborer in the Master's vineyard, often 
allowing his zeal for the Lord and his love of souls to carry 
him bej'ond what his strength and health would justify. 

" He served the following charges with great acceptabilitj^, 
and his name there is as precious ointment poured forth : 
Lenox, Onondaga, Cardiff", Vernon, Warren, Verona, New 
Hartford, Hampton, State Street, (Utica,) Oneida, Sauquoit, 
■at New Hartford a second time, Skaneateles and Moravia, 
where he thoroughl}^ broke down. From IVIoravia he removed 
•to a home provided for him by his brethren, where he closed 
his useful but painful life. 

" Brother Foster united with the Conference in 1839, and 
(remained effective, with the exception of one year, for twenty- 
one years, or until 1800, when his health utterly failed. 
^Brother Foster was mild and amiable in his disposition, a 
•most genial companion, a fast and devoted friend. He de- 
lighted to dwell upon the higher attainments of the religious 
life, and we believe exemplified them in his own. His sick- 
ness was of the most trying and painful character, being 
paralysis of the limbs and nerves, but he bore all with great 
fortitude and resignation. A few days previous to his death, 
•a number of his ministerial brethren met and partook with 
him the Lord's Supper, w^hich he enjoj^ed exceedingly; the 
glory, of which he had so long preached and sweetly sung, 
•and for which he had prayed, opened to his view, and he 
longed to be at rest. At the age of 47, this good man laid 
•down his pilgrim staff' on earth, and took his crown in 
heaven. The place of Brother Foster's nativity was Stafford, 
Genesee county, N. Y. 

" In him another stai- has faded from the horizon of the 
.militant Chuich, to rise in glor^'. 

"Utica, November, 1864. D. W. Bristol." 



152 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Obituary of Samuel Wadsworth, from the Sauquoit Valley 
Ref,nste7', and sketch of the Wadsworth family, by Rev. W. 
Watson : 

"Anothei- of the old landmarks has been removed from our 
midst. Mr. Samuel Wadsworth died in peace at Sauquoit, 
N. Y., Sunday morning at 2:30 o'clock, the 21sl of March, 
1880, aged 83 years, and the funeral services were held at the 
M. E. Church, Tuesday, March 23. A laige concourse of peo- 
ple assembled to show their a])preciation of the solid worth 
of this aged veteran, both as a citizen and a Christian. 

" Brother Wadswoith is the fifth who has died (>ut of a 
family of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, the- 
])0sterity of Timothy and Lydia Wadsworth, who were among 
the veiy first settlers in this county between Sauquoit and 
Utica, in what was known as the " Wadsworth Settlement." 

" Mr. Timothy W^adsworth, Sr., the father of this large and 
time-honoied family, was a native of Hartford, Ct. In his 
youth he sought to make a fortune in the West Indies, where 
he spent one season, getting liis wages for'woik in sugai' and 
molasses, which he ])ut on board the ship bound foi- home, 
but which the shipmaster kept to pay ior his passage, leaving 
him worse off when he reached home than when he went 
away. 

" His next movement was to go " west," as it was then 
called, and beset his brothers to accompany him, but they had 
not the courage to do so. Hence, with his broad-axe upon 
his shoulder — for he was something of a builder — he started 
out single-handed and alone to find the "upcountr3\" When 
he had traveled foui- or five days — on foot, of course— he met 
two or three young men retuiuing, who did their best to per- 
suade him to go back, assuring him that he could get no work 
out in that country, and he would starve; but in spite of 
theii- entreaties, he pushed on until he reached Utica, then 
consisting in all of three log cabins, having only eighteen 
pence left in his pocket. In the vicinity of what is now New 
Hartford and Whitestown,he spent the season hewing timber 
for barns, of which quite a number were built that summer. 
In the course of the season he fell in love with the 3'Oung 
woman who afterward became his wife, and who was visiting 
friends in the settlement, but who returned " down country" 
in the early fall. After the summer and fall work was over, 
our hero started afoot and made the journey to Hartford, Ct., 
and was united marriage to the above mentioned young lady, 

Miss Lydia , whose parents fitted the young couple out 

with a yoke of steeis and a sled, and with this elegant con- 
veyance the newly-married pair made their wedding- tour to 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL t'HURCH. loB^' 

this countiy, which took them three weeks, and upon arriving 
here settled upon the farm now owned and occupied by 
Timothy Wadsworth, Jr., whei*e they commenced life after 
the primitive style of our fathers wheti this country was 
new. 

"On that veiitable spot all those twelve children which 
made up this ancient family, were born and reared, and on 
that farm and adjoining lands a vast amount "of labor was 
performed by this couple and their children. The mother and 
daughter did the ordinary dairy and house work, the spin- 
ning and weaving, and making all the clothes. The boys,. 
with their father, would turn otf'a heap of woi'k in the fields. 
When father took his scythe to go into the lot the order was 
not " ^o" but "come on, boys" and down woidd fall six or 
seven swaths of grass in a lively way, you ma}' be sure, and 
not until the father was nigh on to seventy years of age did 
he have a son who could out-do him in any kind of work 
upon the farm. In those eailier times it was no uncomniDn 
thing for the household to tui-n off a thousand dollars' worth 
of produce in one "year, and thus by dint of great industry 
and economy the whole family were helped to get a good 
start in the world. 

"In those early times there were no churches, and religious 
privileges were almost wholly t-o the Pi-esbyterian, which was 
the church of their fathers " down country." A " Methodist" 
was scarcely known, and a " Methodist Circuit Rider" was a 
great curiosity ; hence, when it was given out through the 
" settlement" that a Methodist ]j»-eacher would hold meetings 
in the school house in New Hartford, all " the boys" must go 
down to see what a Methodist Circuit Rider was like. Father 
Wadsworth and the boys went down. The preacher dis- 
coursed upon repentance and faith and pardon, in primitive 
Methodist style, and many were awakened, among whom was 
Father Wadsworth, who, not daring to remain at the inquiry 
meeting, returned to his home, and spent a sleepless night 
with the aiTows of convicton in his soul. Nor could he find, 
rest, till, being lei apparently by the spirit, he sought a pro- 
fessor who could help him. The first one, however, whom he 
went to see, and to whom he told his grief, said he could not 
help him, for he had left his religion "up country." The 
second one, however, whom he went to see, forthwith helped 
.him, and he soon obtained a sense of sins forgiven, and im- 
mediately began to go from house to house, telling the people 
what God had done for his soul. 

" A revival followed in which a goodl}' number were con- 
verted. Methodist circuit preaching was established in the 
neighborhood, and a strong society was organized and built 



154. HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

up. In 1822, George Wadswoith, one of the boys of this 
large family, went to Watertown for a couple of years, and 
while there he was converted under the preaching of Dr. 
John Dempster. Soon after his return his brother Samuel, 
just now deceased, was converted, and in 1826, under the 
labors of Ephraim Hall, the remaining children, eight or ten 
in number, were converted, and thus the whole family were 
brought into the church, and during these long years have 
beon°worthy and useful members of the same. Five of the 
■children, including Samuel, all of whom but one lived to a 
cood old age, have gone to their reward, while seven remain, 
the youngest of whom is (38 years of age, all residing within 
■an hour's ride of each other in the vicinity of Sauquoit 

"The member of this ancient family just deceased, was a 
remarkably even and sweet spirited man. His own children 
aver that they never knew him to speak a cross word or to 
manifest an angry spirit. His second wife, who in feebleness 
survives him, with her children, bear cheerful testimony to 
his uniform Christian temper and spirit. He was greatly be- 
loved by the church, and was ever ready, by his presence, 
prayers and means, to proinote its interests. The whole com- 
muriity respected and loved him, hence at the funei'al we all 
felt tliat we had been bereaved, nevertheless there was a 
cheerfulness in the gloom that provaded the assembly, be- 
cause every one felt assured that this father in Israel had gone 
straight to glory, and was fully jirepared to join in the Song 
■of the Redeemed. The text selected at the funeral, Acts xi : 
24, " For he was a good man, and full of tne Holy Ghost, and 
of Faith," it was thought aptly expressed the character of the 
Saint of God. Kev. R. Flint, a recent pastor, and Rev. B. F. 
Willoughb}', pastor of the Presbyterian Church, assisted in 
the religious services of the occasion." 



CHAPTER XYI. 

HISTORY OF SAUQUfHT ACADEMY. 

The Sauquoit valley is just now (1879,) looking its very 
loveliest. Fruit-laden trees, vvaving corn, bending hop-poles, 
with their golden clustering wealth, and barns, filled to over- 
flowing with the garnered grain and hay, all tell of pros- 



SAUQUOIT ACADEMY. 155 

perity Hops of late years have become an important pro- 
duction in the valley, the climate and soil being peculiarl}' 
adapted to their growth, and during the years of blight and 
disease to the vine in other localities where they are exten- 
sively grown, this valley has scarcely been affected, but has 
u niformly produced, year after year, a quality of hops of su- 
perior strength an<l flavor, unequaled on the continent, 
owing, doubtless, to the favorable sun exposure of its hillside 
and its sheltering situation from the withering winds. The 
•crop this year, as a general thing, although promising to be of 
superior quality, will not in quantity exceed two-thirds the 
usual yield, a few yai'ds only showing a full crop, among the 
most notable of which is the yard of Mr. Samuel B. Rhodes, 
south of the village, and adjoining the Burning Springs lot, 
containing about twenty-eight acres, well cultivated and 
cleanly kept, with unusually tall poles, loaded with a full 
yield of the golden clusters. This yard is a comparativelj^ 
new one, with the hop-house or kiln for drying and preparing 
the crop, of the latest and most approved plan, and with 
tidy, well-painted farm-house and outbuildings. Of the 
general neatness of all the surroundings, Mr. Rhodes may 
well be proud, and in the present outlook of a high price for 
his abundant crop, he is likely to reap a deserved reward for 
the great pains evidently bestowed in their cultivation. 
Various opinions obtain among hop growers as to the num- 
ber of vines proper to be trained up each pole, the majority 
settling upon two as sufficient. Mr. Rhodes has this year put 
up more than that number, many poles have five or six vines, 
which in this particular year may account for this abundant 
yield. 

East Sauquoit is making some noticeable improvements ; 
new buildings recently erected, and others in process of erec- 
tion, old ones painted up, new fences .built, &c., and, more 
recently, a " bee" of the villagers united in leveling up and 
giading and laying out walks in the beautiful little y)ark, in 
which stand the Methodist Church and the Academy. Many 
years ago this park was the village burying ground, surround- 
ing the old church, erected in 1801, and altered over in 181G, 
the ground being purchased for church purposes, at a nominal 
price, of Lieutenant Spencer Briggs, the pioneer of East 



156 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARI'*, 

Sauquoit, and who owned the tract on which the village is 
mainly built. The pulpit was supplied by what was called 
circuit riders until 1815, when Rev. Abner Chase, the first 
regular minister, was stationed here under the Presiding Elder, 
Charles Giles, the membership being 106. He stayed the 
following year, and under his vigorous work increased his 
flock to 178. The membership under his successors fluctuated 
and finally dwindled down to 108 in 1823, when Elias Bowen, 
afterwards Elder, was assigned here, and when John S. 
Mitchell took hold in 1827, there were 137, and he increased 
them to 160, when Alexander Irvine was called — 1829 — who 
is remembered as a beautiful speaker, not loud, but a fine, 
musical voice, with earnest, persuasive style, and not a few 
are still alive who were converted under him ; who added a 
round hundred to the list, making 260 in 1830. The mem- 
bership fluctuated again, until Elisha Wheeler took hold in 
1833, when he found 256, and by his powerful work ran the 
list up to 340, which were the marked revivals in the old 
church, and previous to the building of the new church. 
The list dwindled away again, and in 1842 it was 240. A. J. 
Dana took hold in 1843, and by a powerful revival increased 
the membership to 370, which was the first great "outpouring" 
in the new brick church. In 1841 it was decided to build a 
new church and change the graves to a plot on the brow of 
the hill east of the village, purchased of the late Henry Crane, 
and most of the buried dead were accordingly removed to 
that plot. Some, however, refusing to disturb the bones of 
their ancestors, the grounds were leveled otf over the silent 
sleepers. Some years later (1851,) the Sauquoit Valley 
Cemetery was organized and located at South Sauquoit, and 
the burying ground on the hill, havin:^ proved wet and un- 
suitable, most of the dead travelers took a second journey, 
and to the cemetery, where finally they will no doubt repose 
undisturbed in that silent city overlooking the valley. The 
old bell-tower was erected in 1816, and attached to the church 
in front, the timbers along up being securely bolted to the 
main edifice, the lower story forming the porch to the body 
of the church with stair-cases leading to the gallery, the bel- 
fry being high up above all, and was constructed by a Mr. 
Fisk, who superintended the " raising," which was the largest 



SAUqrOIT ACADEMY. 157 

artair of the kind in those days. The highest bent rose 41 
feet, of massive timbers, and William Whetmore performed 
the perilous feat of being raised with the bent, clino-ino- 
astride the top of the post, to pin it when up there, as no 
ladder could reach the dizz}' height. This part of the struc- 
ture could not be moved, as it was designed the church should 
be, so it was sold at auction, to be taken away. The late Dr. 
Rutus Priest bidding it off, a bee was made and the ponderous 
old bell was lowered to the ground with the frame work on 
which it swung to and fro, and placed on terra firma in the 
back part of the lot to do duty there during the erection of 
the new church. The old bell in those days, and through all 
the previous years, was rung regularly each week day by the 
old sexton, Jordan Gray, at 9 o'clock A. M., at 12 M., and at 6 
o'clock P. M. The doctor stripped the tower of its coverino-, 
and when all was ready, near the close of a bright spring- 
day, another bee assembed, long ropes attached high up near 
the huge timbers and network of braces of the now •j'aunt 
skeleton tower, the bolts attaching it to the main building 
were withdrawn, and the crowd, at a safe distance at the ends 
of the long ropes, in response to the stentorian "heave, oh he!" 
of Sam Vickery, swayed and tugged. At first, not much 
efJect could be observed, but repeated surges at last told, and 
the towering mass rocked to and fro, gaining motion each 
swing, until at last the top passed over the center of giavity, 
and the massive towei', that for forty years had borne on high 
■the old bell that from time to time had tolled off the a^e of 
the old pioneer, the aged mother, strong man in the prime of 
life, youth and maidens, the prattling child and chirrupino- 
infant, and solemnly pealing out their requiem as one by one 
they had been borne past and gathered in the old church 
yard within its shadow, now at last in awful grandeur, 
careening over, slowl}^ at first but gathering velocity, came 
thundering and crashing to the ground with mighty roar as 
sun went down that marked the close of day. The material 
was utilized in the erection of a barn at the then residence of 
the Doctor, on the street east of the church. The old church 
was moved to the south end of the lot, and the present sub- 
stantial brick church erected in 1842, by Phineas Hall, 
builder, Leverett W. Thomas superintending the wood work. 



158 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

The old Ibell was hoisted up into the new belfiy, doing duty 
for many years, but finally cracked and was sent to the 
foundry and replaced by the present bell of about the same 
tone. 

The important subject of properly educating the rising' 
generation occupied the attention of those old residents 
largely at that time. They took a lively interest in the district 
school, and every few days a delegation of them would visit 
the school, note the progress of the pupils, and, in turn, air 
their ideas of government and give advice and encourage- 
ment. Prominent among them was David Loring, the old 
cabinet maker, carding machine builder and undertaker, 
who w^uld never fail to remind the boys that he still pos- 
sessed the London Encyclopedia, (of which he was very proud 
and often quoted,) and never omited to instill into their minds 
tLat "just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined;" and to 
the teacher that "line upon line and precept upon precept, 
here a little and there a little," was what was wanted. He 
invariably wound up his speech with the lines : 

" Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But error wounded writhes in pain, 
And dies amid her worshipers." 

The stern old Justice of the Peace, Charles Robinson, laid 
down duty and the law, and the genial and social Captain 
Knight eulogized George Washington and told a happy story, 
and the Visiting Committee departed well pleased that they 
had discharged their duty. The upper story of the old 
school-house, fitted up for the old Masonic Lodge, was also 
devoted to the use of a " select school," as it was called, for 
the advanced scholars, founded by the Rev. John S. Mitchell, 
the Methodist minister stationed here at that time, (1827,) 
who circulated a subscription paper conjointly with the old 
Masonic Lodge, raised the necessary funds to raise the old 
one story school-house to a two-story building, taught the 
school for a time and was succeeded by Wilbur Armstrong, 
then Judge Williams, and afterwards taught for many years- 
by a Mr. Biddlecome, the Langford brothers and others. The 
last teacher was the now Hon. James W. Seaton, a pioneer of 
Potosi, Wis., ex-member of Assembly and Senator of that 



SAUQUOIT ACADEMY. I59. 

State ; an accomplished writer and journalist, at that time 
quite a young man, a self-educated but thorough scholar. Ha 
was the second .son of the popular VVashingtonian tetnper- 
ance lecturer and Scotch ballad-singer, jolly " Uncle Jemmy" 
Seaton, who in thoss days visited and spoke in many Darts of 
the State. The villagers finally determined to found an 
Academy in lieu of the select school, and to that end the old 
church building seemed to be the opportune thing. The only 
" bugbear" was the fact that both the Methodist and Presby- 
terian societies had just erected new churches by subscription, 
and it seemed doubtful if any more money could be raised at 
that time. But Rev. Elias Bowen, the presiding elder, then a 
resident there, a man of great push, energy and influence, 
said it mu.st be done, and put his shoulder to the wheel. The 
old merchant, Erastus Everett, headed the subscription with 
$100, David Loring plauked down $oO, and Elder Bowen dis- 
played his faith in his works and went on for $50. These 
were the largest subscribers. Others followed along down to. 
$5 — a grand total of $1,044. The church, through the in- 
fluence of the Elder, donated the old church building and 
deeded at a nominal price, three barleycorns a year when de- 
manded, the south part of their grounds next to the tavern 

now the residence of Mr. Stelle. The old red horseshed ad- 
joining and extending north along the front of the lot was 
removed and the to-be-academy building placed in its present 
location. A contract was entered into with L. W. Thomas to 
properly fit up the building, during which the school was 
organized and opened in the basement of the new church, and. 
Prof M. C. F. Barber engaged as principal. At a meeting of 
the subscribers, held April 9, 1844, seven Trustees were 
elected, viz: Erastus Everett, David Loring, Rev. E. Bowen, 
Hon. William Knight, L. Bishop, M. D., Daniel Wells and 
William Harrison Royce. E. Everett was made President 
and William Knight Secretary, and the Academy thenceforth 
became one of the institutions of the village. The building 
in due time was completed and occupied. The teachers were 
Professor Barber, assisted by his wife and Miss Kate Tuttle— 
now of Columbus, Ohio — Miss Kittie Roberts, music teacher, 
and George W. Eastman, penmanship and book-keepino- — . 
who afterwards founded the Pioneer Commercial College, a,t 



160 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Rochester. At the winter term of '45 and '46, the school had 
fairly opened with two hundred scholars, closino^ in the spring 
with an exhibition held in the church, which was an event in 
those days. The performers were selected by competitive 
rehearsal, and required to write their own pieces " to speak," 
except the Latin and Greek orations, which were selected. 
The church was literally packed on the occasion, it beino- 
found necessary to put temporary posts under the gallery to 
sustain the great weight. The Old Utica Band (then young) 
discoursed the music. Rev. John Waugh offered the open- 
intr prayer, and the venerable Elder Bowen pronounced the 
benediction. Erastus Everett, with his clerk, " tended" door 
and received the admission fee; Robert and Camp Griffin 
officiated as ushers (and police duty if required,) in the body 
of *the church, while Deacon Maltby and Samuel Vickery per- 
formed that service in the galleries, and the dense throng was 
handled without accident or disturbance. The programme 
was carried out as follows : 






MUSIC BY THE UTICA BAND. 

(Prayer.) 



1. Latin Charles W. Bowen. 

2. The Mird bpyond tlip Grave, Gilbert M. Priest. 

3. Intif'elity acd Chnsrianity Contrasted* Henry Giles 

4. InaportHDCH of Educhtioa to tbe Ameiican 

Farmer,* Edward E. Simmons. 



5. Amfrica,* Sarah A. Macomber. 

6, Evf nirg R^rtect'on?,* Anna Waldron 

i. Wor derf ul Tree.* Savia Wilmot. 

8. Literature,* .- Lucy W Steadman. 

9. Friendship* Lucy L. Bell. 

10. Rt fl*. ctions * Laura M. Parmalee. 



.1., T-i inn Ti r> . ,. *) Cornelia L. Everett, ) t,.,i„.,. 

IL French Colloquy, The Remin,* ^- ^^^ra M. Parmalee. } ^"'l^ors- 

* Orisinal. 



SAUQUOIT ACADEMY. 161 



12. Life,* John Gage. 

13. Our Coutitrv,*... George D, Dunham. 

14. Henr.' Clay,* Hknry Clay Rogers, 

15. Chiracters of Eminent Men,* Samuel J. Bligh. 



16. Colloquy, The Mortgage,* 

Mrs. Hamilton, L. M. Parmalee. 

Miss Alice Herbert, M. WiLMOT.f 

L^'uisa L. A. Johnson. 

Ameli^, S. Wilmot. 

17. Greek Charles A. Butler. 

18. J!^apoleon,* Albert Day. 

19. Steam,* Mortimer G. Thomson, 

20. Importance of Knowledge to the Me- 

chanic,* Augustus S. Hull. 

21. Colloquy, Western School Room. (by the Principal,) 

Mr. Wi-eicre, (Teacher.) E. E. Simmons. 

" Phenosopl'os, (Phrenology.) A.Day. 

Dr. Squib, (Visitor ) A. N, Priest. 

Mr. Greig, ' J Gage. 

Miss Roberts " N Lohnas. 

" Lark, " L. Johnson. 

Eunice, (Servant.) S. Macombek, 

Scholars. 



23. Living vs. Posthumous Influence,* James Wilson. 

23. Responsibilitie- o' American Youtii,* Albert N. Priest. 

24. Pers'-verance Necessary to the Attainment of 

an Object,* Horace L. Harrison. 

25. One Blood and One Br.itherhood * Jesse A. Perkins. 



26c Colloquy, Martyrs, or Days of Queen Mary,* (by the Principal.) 

Bonner, (Ri=hop of London,) H L. Harrison. 

Saund^rs. (Protestant Minister,) J. A. Perkins. 

Marlet (Chaplain of Mary.) . , L Griffin. 

Vive, (Tuton and Informer ) M. G. Thomson, 

Almont, (Monk,) A.N Priest. 

Catharine, (Si«'er to Saunders,) A. Waldron. 

Gray, (Constable,) AS. Hull. 



(Benediction.) 

* Original. 

t Excused on account of sickness, in her place, J. J. Calhouk. 

K 



162 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 



Professor Barber was ^reatlj' exercised for fear the boys 
would get out a '•' false scheme," and kept his genuine schemes 
under lock and key until the audience had assembled, when 
the}^ were distributed by the ushers, who unconsciously, 
however, also distributed the dreaded " false schemes," which 
the naughty boys had adroitly inserted in the packages, as 
follows : 



MUSIC BY LITTLEWOOD'S BAND. 

(Ask a Blessing.) 

Latimus, Prof. B iwen. 

Mind Beyond the Bon^' Gatdea . .Gib Priest. 

Hypocr.sy and Sincerity contrasted,* Hen Giles. 

Plowing by Rule,* Ed. Simmons. 



5. 
6. 

8. 

9. 

10. 



11. 



12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 



{Dance, tJte Polk-er.) 

Yankee Nation,* .Sarah A Macomber. 

M et me by M onlight,* . . .Anna Waldron. 

Tall Oaks, &c * Savia Wilmot. 

The Literati,* Lucy W. Steadman. 

Friendship's but a name,* Lucy L. Ball 

The last time I saw him,* Laura M. Parmele. 

(Poor Bessy.) 

■n> 1 r- 11 XT o * .,(.) Cornelia L. Everett, / A„ti,^,„ 

French Colloquy, He Returns,-'^ f ^aura M. Parmele, [ ^'^thors. 



(Old Dan Tucker, Esq.) 

Fat Living, Pigs in the Clover, John a Gage. 

Uncle Sam vs. John Bull Done uam. 

Harry Clay. God bless him! H C. I^ogeus. 

Death of Old Hickory, Samuel. 



(Dead March in Saul.) 

16. Colloquy, Love, Courtship and Marriage, (Chums.) 

Mrs. Hamilton Sister Laura. 

Mis ^ Alice, " Julia. 

Louisa, .. " L.-vura Ann. 

Amelia, '■ Susy. 

* Original. 



SAUQUOIT ACADEMY. 163 



{High Lolu Jack.) 

17. Grease, (Frowy,) Charley Butler. 

18. Stereotyp ■ Edition, Albert Day. 

19. Bust yer Biler, Thom Soman. 

■20. Altitude of Post Holes, . Augustus S V7holb 



{Soriiething Con ileal.) 

21 Colloqu\', A, B, C's, (by the Principal.) 

Mr. Wisac c. (Tutor,) Old Chip monk. 

'• Bumpology, a Day. 

Dr. Squirt, ('Jompany.) A Priest. 

Mr. Gass " John Gage. 

Miss Robers, " 

" Lark, " Dry Lots. 

" (Waiter,) S. Mc (Letter 1.) 

Fellers and Gals. Exeunt Omnes. 



(Jinny get my Hoe Cake Done.) 

33. Living vs. Ablominal Influence, Jimmy Wax heels. 

33. Train up a Child, &c, a Meth Priest. 

24. Faint heart never won fair Lady, Hairy son. 

25. Amalgamation, hea! hea! ! hea! ! ! Jesse A. Perkins. 



(Swing to Your Places.) 

26. Dilog: Last of the Mohegans, {Perhaps Original— hy the Boss,) 
Bonner, (Priest of New Gate.) 

San Istones, (Domina ) 

Beetle. 

Wives, (Tutors and Formers.) 

Alamode, (Munkey.) 

Kitty, (Sandstone's Sister ) 

Gray, (Mob Him.) 

(John Brown had a Little Injin.) 

27. Return Thanks by Brother 

PASS AROUND THE HAT. 

Promenade ALL, Out Doors. 

(Old Hundred:) 



164 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Prof. Barber afterwards went to Texas, in charge of a 
corps of surveyors, whei-e he died from some disease in- 
cident to that climate, and the school dwindled down until in 
1850 Rev. Moses E. Dunham assumed the management and 
brought it up to the old standard, and held it there several 
years, when he entered the ministry, first at Clayville, then 
for many years at Whitesboro, and lately at Johnstown. The 
school again " run down," the building became out of repair, 
when in 1866, the people again took hold, raised $1,695, put 
the building in good repair, engaged Aaron White as Princi- 
pal, assisted by Phebe White, Huldah C. Kimball, Clara 
Bragg, A, W. Talcott, penmanship, and Miss H. E. Rogers, 
music, and the school led off for the third time with 
205 scholars. Various teachers tried their hand since then ; 
the " hard times" 'came on, and down went the school again. 
Last year (1878) the villagers once more took hold, repaired 
up the building, and under the able management of the 
present accomplished Principal and his corps of assistants, the 
old Academy again and tor the fourth time went up to the 
traditional 200 scholars. The present Faculty is T. H. Rob- 
erts, Principal, assisted by Emma F. Roberts, T. R. Catlin, 
Fannie A. Wickson, J. H. J. Watkins ; Hattie E. Rogers, 
Music; E. J. Roberts, Penmanship, and Emily R. Gray, Oil 
Painting. During the thirty-four years there have been 
forty-two trustees. Erastus Everett, the first President, was 
succeeded by N. W. Moore, Amos Rogers, and William Hux- 
ford. Hon. William Knight, during most of these years was 
Secretary, F. S. Savage, Treasurer, and M. M. Gray, Vice Pres- 
ident. William Knight succeeded Mr. Huxford as President, 
William F. Mould was made Treasurer, and Henry C. Rogers 
Secretary. The present oSicers are M. M. Gray, President, 
George D. Dunham, Vice President, Wdliam F. Mould, Treas- 
urer, and Rev. Benjamin F. Willoughby, Secretary. Hal- 
lowed associations cluster around the time-honored old build- 
ing. Of the old time-worshipers that were wont to assemble 
within its sacred walls, responding to the fervent prayer, or 
joining in the swelling anthem of praise, few, indeed, are left. 
Memory running back to by-gone days views, as in a pan- 
orama, the old congregation, 'Squire Griffin, Camp, Joel, 
Robert and his sons George and Henry, Benjamin Loomis, 



SAUQUOIT ACADEMY. 165 

Ezekiel Hawly, Randall, Fox, Budlong, John Birdseye, Nathan 
Robinson, William Boyce, Elijah Davis, Hobart Graves, Wells 
Walton, Greenlief, Rev. Father Arnold, Rev. Stocking, and 
Henry Crane ; Noah E. King, Huggett, Cloyes, Turner, J- 
Nichols, and Levi Birdseye ; 'Squire Todd, Joseph and Hugh 
Garlick, Dea. Coe, J. Crane, Father Morris Maltby, and En- 
sign Hull, Charles Birdseye, David Nouise, Whetmore, Camp- 
bell, Elkanah Hewett, Charles 0. Curtiss, Asa Priest and Dr. 
Rnfus Pi'iest, his son, (the old choir leader,) Josiah Moshier 
and his sons George and Emerson, Martin Hawley, and 
Graves, merchants, and " King" Brownell ; Daniel Willard, 
Chapman, Day, Nicholas Giles, Edwards, Potter Cobb, Obed 
Waldron, and Darius Dunham, and Captain Townsend ; 
Theodore Gilbert, Ephraim Davis, and Talbott, Amos Wilcox 
and Sylvester Nichols, Baxter Gage, Lieut. Biiggs and his 
son Spencer, Daniel Wells, 'Squire Curtiss, Dr. Tyler, O. Prior, 
Pratt, Deacon Hubbard, Henry Royce, William J. Eager, 
Elders Paddock, Parks and Boweu, Dr. J. Knight, Zabine 
Luce, Major Geer, U. T. Harvey and James L. Davis ; Deacon 
Curtiss, Moses Campbell, Moses Campbell, Jr., Captain Levi 
Hubbard, Pride, Enos Knight, and his sons William and 
George, A. S. Hull, Kneaskern, James Seaton, David Loring, 
Abel Gates, Goodsell, William L. Mould, Abner Bacon, Camp 
Parmalee, Charles Cooledge, Samuel Nichols, Father Cheney, 
David Seaton, Samuel Wadsworth and Hiram Kellogg. The 
old bell ringer, Jordan Gray, that tolled them off, finally 
joined the procession gone before, and John Ball, the old 
grave-digger that buried all these generations, at last laid 
down his mattock and spade, and went to his rest and no 
answer to this muster roll comes back to us from that voice- 
less, echoless shore. There survive of the outlying parish 
fathers, Richards, Thomas, Norton, Paddock, Goodier, Rev. 
I. L. George, and Timothy Wadsworth, and Brower ; of the 
villagers, George Smith, the venerable wool carder, is at Smith- 
port, Pa., the veteran hatter and Justice of the Peace, Charles 
Robinson, at Knowlton, Wis., and the old miller, James Bacon, 
at Richmond, 111. ; the old merchants, Andrew Mills, Harry 
Adams and Eiastus Everett, yet live in Central New York, 
and the only remaining original residents of East Sauquoit 
■are Dr. Bishop, " Gen'l" Gates, and Solomon Rogers. The 



166 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

thousand and more of scholars that have passed through the 
old Acadeniy, are scattered far and wide. The blooming girls 
are mothers now, (some of them grand-mothers,) and not a 
few of both boys and girls have gone " to that undiscovered 
bourne from which no traveler returns." The old school- 
boys fill positions in life's active drama everywhere. Min- 
isters, lawyers, doctors, professors in colleges and schools 
bankers, merchants, and underwriters in New York and 
every city of the State, and Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis- 
and the great cities of the far west ; mechanics and manu- 
facturers in the New England States ; farmers in the West, 
herders on the great plains, and miners on the Pacific slope, 
and some went down to honored graves on the battle-field. 
The school enters the 35th year of its eventful historv 
with the best wi.shes of all for its permanent and continued 
prosperity. Nestling among the shady maples planted dur- 
ing Rev. M. E. Dunham's administration, now towering full- 
grown, the quaint old Academy, with its improved park and 
beautiful surroundings, is deservedly the pride of the valley. 
The eijergetic Board of Trustees, with competent and trusty 
officers, the able management of the skilled teachers, all point 
to that degree of success which all these advantages will 
surely command. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WEST SATJQUOIT,. 
BY REV. B. F. WILLOUGHBY, THE PRESENT PASTOR. 

In 1791, was organized the Congregational Church of Paris 
Hill, and the Presbyterian Church of New Hartford. In 
1798, a Congregational Church was oi'ganized at North 
Bridge water, which comprised among its worshipers, some 
of the southern portion of our society as it was afterwards 
formed. About 1795, the neighborhood of Norwich Corners 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 167" 

became the place of worship for our early inhabitants^ and a 
Congregational Church of eleven members was oi-ganized 
there, June 19, 1798. But owing to difficulty in obtaining 
the needed funds for church-building, a house of worship was 
not completed there until 1804. In the meantime, the Sab- 
bath services were held in school houses. Those buildings, 
from which many of the present would exclude all religion, 
were happily in those days the shelter of our homeless 
churches, and neither Church nor Staie luere corrupted hy iL 
This is a little type of that union which always has existed, 
and will exist, we trust, between religion and education. God 
grant they shall never be divorced ! 

The first pastor of the mother church of Norwich Corners, 
was the Rev. John Eastman. He was installed September 
11th, 1799, and continued pastor until March 21st, 1809, 
nearly ten years. The Rev. Hugh VVallis was installed as his 
successor December 13th, 1809, and was pastor at the time 
of the organization of this Church. 

It fell to my lot, a few years ago, to supply the pulpit of 
that old church on Sabbath afternoons, during: a uart of one 
winter; and still later I have rendered the same .service, for 
many winters as well as summers at Paris Hill. My own ex- 
perience of facing blinding snow storms and plunging through 
deep drifts has been ample to aiford a little realization of 
what the fathers and mothers of this people endured in those 
earlier days, to enjoy the privilege of worshiping God in his 
own holy sanctuary. Then, it was not nierelya solitary min- 
ister, picking his way up the hills, but a large part of the 
congregation, some on ox-sleds, some on horseback ; here a 
stronsf horse carrying double, the husband in front, and his 
wife on a pillion behind ; there a couple of regular attend- 
ants, the wife alone on the horse, and the husband trudging 
on foot beside her ; and all over roads not .so good as those at 
present — although even now there is room for vast impi-ove- 
ment — but through rough paths in the forest, leaping the 
bog-holes, carefully stepping over the roots, and winding 
about the trees and stumps. 

When I read of these great difficulties, surmounted by the 
hardy ones of old for the service and worship of God, it 
seems to me a stern rebuke of that easy-going piety, that fair- 



168 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

weather Chi'istianity which now prevail so much, which will 
lounge into a church and through its service once per- 
haps on a pleasant Sabbath day, and more likely, on still 
rarer occasions. And with this small grain of religious ob- 
servance, feign to fulfill the requirements of God and the 
demands of that part of our nature, which spurning the earth, 
finds home only in the things above. Would that the recol- 
lections of those earlier days, should inspire us with new 
energy to-day ! Would that the spirit which braved such 
difficulties to found, sustain and attend upon the Church of 
Ood in the wilderness, should animate us with alike holy de- 
termination to carry forward the work thus begun — to con- 
sult, not ease, but the calls of God — to deny ourselves, as 
they did, for Him ! 

Still, it was but natural and right, that the residents of 
this valley should seek to establish a church nearer to them- 
selves. The\^ doubtless, felt the want of a nearer church in- 
fluence, as well as a wish to abate the hardships of church 
attendance so far away. There is an old record of a first un- 
succe=!sful attempt to lorm a religious society here, in 1795. 
On July 6th of that year, a meeting was held in the store of 
Dr. Perkins, — standing where the hotel now stands — and a 
society was then formed by the name of Hancock Religious 
Society. The following officers were chosen, viz : Joseph 
Howard, Clerk ; Jonathan Davis, William Babbitt, David 
Seymour, Asa Shepherd, Matthew Nichols, Jonathan Davis, 
Jr., Jesse Prior, and Aaron Davis, Trustees. A sufficient 
number truly ! A committee of three was then appointed to 
appraise the land for a house of worship, viz : Henry Crane, 
Jonathan Davis and John Clay. After this, on September 
7th, 1795, there was a second meeting, in which provision 
was made for the purchase of a lot for a burying ground, and 
also they received and agreed to the report of the committee 
on the site of the church. They then voted to dissolve the 
meeting ; and with this, so far as records show, not only the 
meeting, but the Hancock Religious Society itself, was 
dissolved. 

Before the year 1800, occasional services were held in a 
school house, standing about on the present site of Mr. Sul- 
livan's blacksmith shop. In October, 1800, the Norwich So- 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 169 

ciety passed a resolution that the preaching on the Sabbath 
should be held in that scboolhouse one-third of the time, 
until the following May. In 1802, a new schoolhouse was 
erected on the site of the old one; and it was built much 
larger, with two rooms and a swing partition between them, 
which could be swung up and fastened on hooks to the ceiling 
above, so as to make it convenient for religious services. This 
was our church accomodations until the year 1810. 

We now come to the time when this church and religious 
society began its separate existence. 

On the 12th of December, 1809, an ecclesiastical council 
was convened in the Norwich Society, from the minutes of 
which we make the following extract : 

" Several memorials from members of the church, living at 
or near the creek, were received. The .memorialists report 
they live so remote from the usual place of worship in said 
society, that they do not derive that benefit from the ordi- 
nances of the Gospel which they need. They therefore pray 
the council to give them such direction and advice as they 
shall think best calculated to remove them from their present 
embarrassment. 

" The council, after mature deliberation, are of opinion that 
it is expedient that a division be made in the church, and 
that those members who live near the creek be constituted a 
distinct Church of Christ." 

In accordance with this action, eighteen of the members of 
that church were dismissed, to form a separate church in this 
locality. 

On the 8th of January, 1810, a number of individuals met 
in the schoolhouse aforesaid, and proceeded to organize a re- 
ligious society. The name which they adopted was the same 
as now, — after the lapse of 69 years — Union Society. This 
name, as we understand, was selected for the i^eason that the 
society was made up of members of the four adjacent soci- 
eties of Norwich, New Hartford, Paris Hill and Bridgewater. 
Three Trustees were chosen, viz : John Butler for one year, 
Joseph Howard for two years, and Eliphalet Sweeting for 
three years; James Dickson was appointed clerk. The first 
chairman was Gardiner Avery, father of Mr. Eli Avery and 
Mrs. Frederic Savage, Sr. 

On the 29th of January, a meeting was held in the house of 



170 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Abner Bacon, to organize a church. This house, which stood 

then nearly on the site of the present residence of Mr. 

Chauncey S. Butler, has since been removed, and now stands 

just beyond Mr. Butler's barn on the other side of the road. 

It is insignificant enough in appearance, but oh, how glorious 

in this great memory ! Here 1 insert the record of that 

meeting : 

" Paris Union Society, Jan. 29th, 1810. 

" Pursuant to a vote of the Church of Christ in Norwich 
Society, which was with a view to form a separate church, a 
number of professing Christians invited in assistance to form 
and constitute them in church state ; who met at the house 
of Abner Bacon, on the day and date above. Present : Rev. 
Messrs. E. Wood worth, J. Eastman and J. South worth. After 
solemn prayer to Almighty God, attended to the case of those 
persons, who, b\^ the above vote referred to, were now in cir- 
cumstances to form a new church ; also attended to others 
who exhibited letters of recommendation, together with 
others who offered themselves for examination to join in 
church state, who never had united with the visible Church 
of Christ ; who were examined with respect to their doc- 
trinal, experimental and practical knowledge of religion. 
After a careful and candid examination, the persons whose 
names are unoersigned, assented to the confession of faith 
adopted by the Church of Christ in Norwich, and to the cove- 
nant received by the Church of Christ in Bridgewater, to- 
gether with the rules of admission received by the above 
named churches ; and after having solemnly covenanted to- 
, gether, they were pronounced a regular Church of Christ, and, 
as such, solemnly charged to maintain the unity of the Spirit 
in the bonds of peace." 

Then follow the names of the original members, viz : 

"John Howard, Joseph Howard, Submit Howard, Theo- 
dore Gilbert, Hannah Gilbert, Eden Camp, Elizabeth Camp, 
Eben Judson, Dorcas Judson, Jerris Chittenden, Abner Ba- 
con, Timothy L. Bacon, Lydia Bacon, Hannah Bacon, Jona- 
than Davis, Elizabeth Pratt, Mabel Pratt, Lydia Butler, 
Peace Prior, Lucrecia Harrington, Elizabeth Shepard, Lydia 
Norman, Abigail Huggins, Patty Allen, Betsey Gilbert and 
Nabby Pierce." 

Twenty-six in all ; nine males and seventeen females. 

On the 29th of May, 1872, I attended to the grave the re- 
mains of Mrs. Stephen Savage, an aged saint, formerly 
Nabby or Abigail Pierce, the one whose name is the last on 



J 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 17.1; 

the above list, and who was the last one of that original, 
number. 

Of the clergy who officiated on that occasion, Mr. South- 
worth was pastor of the church at Bridgewater, Mr. Eastman 
of the church of Hanover, — having removed thither from 
Norwich the preceding year — and Mr. Wood worth was or had 
been, quite recently, pastor of the church of Madison. 

The chuich being organized, chose Eben Judson for its 
Moderator, and Timothy L. Bacon, Clerk. It adopted the 
Congregational form of church government. It was resolved 
that the communion service be held on the first Sabbath of 
every second month, commencing with the first Sabbath of 
March, which usage has continued unto the pi-esent time; 
as also certain other usages in the society, such as the annual 
election of a single trustee, to hold his office for three years ; 
the annual meeting of the society on the first Monday in 
December; and after the building of the church edifice, the 
annual meeting for the sale of seats on the first Monday in 
January. The first communion service was on March 4th, 
1810, at which time 28 members, — two more besides the 
original 26 — sat together at the Lord's table. 

In the spring of 1810, the Rev. Ezra Woodworth com- 
menced his labors here as stated supply. About the first of 
June, the church building at Norwich was consumed by fire, 
and the people there made a proposition to the people of the 
Creek, to unite with them in building a new church midway 
between the two places, which proposition was declined. On 
the 21st ol August, a meeting was held to make arrange- 
ment for the building of a church in this locality. At first it 
was decided to build on the east side of the creek, and the 
site was selected just beyond the residence of the late William. 
Knight. Here the foundation was laid in the spring of 18^1, 
and the timber was brought together, when the site was sud- 
denly changed to the one where the church now stands. The 
foundation and the timber were both removed to this spot, 
and such was the zeal of the people in the work that the 
whole transfer was effected in a single day. Before the end 
of this year, (1811,) the building was enclosed, and for three 
years following the congregation worshiped in it as it was, 
benches being carried in for their accommodation. )It was 



172 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

•completed in November, 1814, and the pews were rented for 
the first time January 2d, 1815. 

The form of this old chuieh buildino; is worthy of descrip- 
tion here. It was large, square and high, without steeple, 
standing somewhat back of the site of its successor, so that 
its east side was on the boundary of the lot. Its gables were 
north and south, instead of east and west as now. But the 
dooi — that is, the inner door — was in the middle of the west 
side, under the eaves, instead of gable. Over this door was a 
porch, extending several feet outside the main building, which 
porch was entered from without by three doors, one on the 
west, opposite the inner door, and one on each side, close up 
to the main building. Each of these side doors opened at the 
foot of a flight of stairs, one at each side of the porch, which 
ran up first toward the west, landing on a platform above, in 
the middle, leading back through an upper inside door into 
the gallery. The gallery ran around three sides of the church, 
the west, north and south. There were, of course, two stories 
of windows, one above the gallery and the other below it. 
On the inside of the church below were three aisles, running 
east and west. Between the middle and each side aisle was 
a double row of slips ; and outside the side aisles, on both 
sides and ends of the house, a row of square pews extended 
around the church on each side from the door of entrance 
unto the pulpit. This pulpit was opposite the door on the 
east side, and was a fit symbol of the days when the minister 
that occupied it stood much higher above the people than 
now ; a very eagle's nest, fi-om whence, as we presume, the 
eye of the preacher could command, with piercing view, the 
gallery above with the frolicsome boys and girls in it, (they 
are steady enough now, alas ! many of them very still,) as 
well as the graver, steadier congregation below. But it was 
found, in time, that the convenience for such a purpose was a 
great inconvenience for the real purpose of preaching. And 
hence — as this latter purpose predominated over the other, also, 
perhaps, as a symbol of less domination of the minister over 
the people, and greater closeness and familiarity with them — 
this pulpit was cut down, once and then again, before the old 
structure was torn down and the present one built in its 
place. This first one stood until the year 1843. In it, about 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 173 

840 persons united with this church, either by letter or 
profession of their faith. 

But go back a little. The first year of this Church, 1810^ 
was one of great spiritual blessing. In September, twelve 
persons were added to it; and in December, twelve more. 
Twentj'-nine were added in all during that year ; thus a little 
more than doubling the membership in that first year. 

On September 2d, the Church voted to unite with the 
Oneida Congregational Association, and Joseph Howard was 
appointed the first delegate. On September 30th, 1811, Mr. 
Howard was elected the first deacon, and served, as deacon or 
elder, nearly forty years. 

Early in 1813, Mr. Woodworth discontinued his place, and 
the church, still unfinished, was left unsupplied with preach- 
ing, except by different occasional ministers, until March, 22d, 
1814, when the Rev. Abner Benedict became stated supply, 
and continued as such just eight months. Short as was his 
ministry, it seems to have been greatly blessed, for on July 
8d seventeen were added to the Church, and twelve more 
during the year, making the accessions of that year the same 
in number as in the first year. At the close of the year 1814„ 
the number of the church membership, as nearly as can be 
ascertained, was 74, with which to begin church life in their 
now finished church home. On December 16th of that year 
a second deacon was elected, David Curtis, who served, as 
deacon or elder, with the exception of five years absence, 
nearly thirty-six years. 

We come now to the time when the church received its 
first pastor, the Rev. Publius V. Bogue. He commenced his 
labors towards the close of the 3'^ear 1814, and was installed 
as pastor by an Ecclesiastical Council, March 15, 1815. He 
continued pastor for eleven years, closing his labors with the 
close of the year 1825. His pastorate was greatly blessed by 
several large additions to the Church. Seven were added in 
the first year of his ministry. In the year 1816, occurred 
that infrequent thing, a midsummer revival. As a result of 
this thirteen were added to the Church in September, and 
twenty before the close of the year. In 1818, there was an 
unusually large number of accessions by letter, indicating 
something of a revival of religious earnestness among profess- 



174 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ing Christians, which might have had much to do towards 
the grander revival of 1820. On May 14th, 1820, twenty- 
six united with the Church on a profession of their faith — 
.just the number of the original membership. The pastor, in 
recording their names, appends this remark : " These are the 
fruits of a glorious awakening, which commenced about the 
25th of January." In July, fifteen more were added. The 
whole number of additions during that year was forty-six. 
At the close of Mr. Bogue's pastorship the membership had 
increased to 123. 

After Mr. Bogue had left, there was a vacancy for five 
months, when, on June 1st, 1826, the Rev. Oren Catlin be- 
came stated supply. He continued in charge until April 1st, 
1829, nearly three years. During his comparatively short 
■ministry, foity-one were added to the Church. A large num- 
ber, however, must have been dismissed, as the whole num- 
bei of members, when he left, was but 128 — but five more 
than at the retirement of Mr. Bogue. 

After the retirement of Mr. Catlin, there was a vacancy i 
of eleven months, in which the pulpit was supplied by the 
Rev. Mr. Waters, who resided near Paris Hill. Even in this 
vacancy fourteen were added to the Church. 

On March 1st, 1830, the Rev. Oren Hyde became stated 
supply, and continued as such ten months. In that short 
time sixteen were added to the Church, After him, the Rev. 
Tertius D. Southworth became sated supply, and continued as 
such unto the close of 1832. He received into the Church 
sixteen more. 

This certainly was a very remarkable period for the church. 
For several 3-ears there had been frequent changes in the 
ministry and protracted vacancies, and yet they had been 
years of great spiritual prosperity — years of almost constant 
revival and accessions. During tne four years closing with 
1831, there were additions of sixty-one to the Church. My 
predecessor, in his history, remarks concerning this : " This 
steady increase is the more worthy of note, as, of all the 
periods of the church's history, this would, on some accounts, 
appear to have been the most unfavorable. There were no 
other four years in which there was so changing a ministry 
— three different stated supplies, besides a number of occa- 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 175 

sional. This fact is somewhat explained, when we remember 
that this was the era of the great revival which swept through- 
out this entire part of our State, and the wave which flowed 
over the other churchf^s, sprinkled this, notwithstanding its 
unsettled ministry." 

And yet, large as were these additions, they did not quite 
suffice to maintain the status of the church, as to numbers. 
The number of deaths and dismissions must also have been 
unusually large. For at the close of Mr. South wai'th's minis- 
try, the memparship was only 116 — twelve less than at the 
close of Mr. Catlin's labors, in April, 1829 

We come now to the time when the church saw fit to change 
its form of government, and become, as it is now, a Presbyie- 
rian Church. It is probable that here, as in most other new 
communities at the first organization of a Calvinistic Church, 
there was a diversity of sentiment as to the best form of or- 
.ganization, some preferring Congregationalism, others Presby- 
terianism. Some inclined to the former because it seemed, in 
their view, to accord greater liberty to the individual members 
and local churches ; others preferred the latter because, as they 
thought, it united all reasonable liberty with a better order and 
greater efficiency of government. The only way of settling 
this dirterence, is to allow the choice of the majority to prevail ; 
and if, afterwards, the majoritj^ should change, then to allow 
•the corresponding change in the church. The clear sentiment 
•of the present majority should now be the law, as the other 
■sentiment has been the law before. As observation has shown 
me repeatedly, this must usually be the case. The majority 
may wait for a time, but it will in the end assert its rights, and 
take the rule. It will not long consent to be bound down un- 
der the rule of a clear minority; and it is foolish for any 
minority, even under the plea of previous rule when it was 
the majority, to attempt to cling still to its lule in that way. 
Hence, as communities change, churches change; sometimes 
from Congregationalism to Presbyterianism, sometimes the 
other way. In Central New York, the tendencies seem to 
■have been quite generally in the former direction. A large 
number of churches, like this one, formerly Congregational, 
Jiave become Presbyterian. Here, the Presbyterian element 
w-as more or less active from the very first. In 1813, less 



176 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

than three years after organization, a standing committee — 
a quasi session in reality — was appointed " to attend to public 
complaints and other important duties." A similar standing 
committee was again appointed in 1827, "for the purpose of 
prosecuting more effective measures for the government and 
disciplme of the church." Again, in 1818, the church, by 
unanimous vote, withdrew from the Oneida Association, to 
unite with the Presbytery of Oneida, afterwards the Pres- 
bytery of Utica, on the old plan of accommodation. Thus 
the waj^ was gradually prepared for the complete change 
which occurred April 26th, 1832, when the church voted to 
adopt the full Presbyterian form of government. 

The change seems to have been effected without serious 
trouble. In fact, the large number of cases of discipline 
which were occurring at that time, some of which had 
dragged their slow length along for two or three years, and 
all of which must have been a constant disturbance to the 
peace of the whole church, had undoubtedly much to do in 
leading the people to welcome a change which would take 
the work out of the hands of all, many of whom must be in- 
competent, and commit it to the few effective, chosen men, 
who would manage these things, not only more wisely, but 
with much less of painful friction to the whole mass. A few, 
indeed, appear to have felt aggrieved for a time by the 
change, but no party was formed against it; and, so far as 
now appears, the peace of the church was but little disturbed 
by it. From that day to this, the church has stood, with 
general acquiescence, as a Presbyterian Church. 

The first Elders elected were David Curtis, Salmon Holmes, 
Abijah Hubbard, Joseph Howard and Leverett Bishop. The 
latter two at first declined ordination, so that the session was 
first constituted with the other three, viz: Messrs. Curtis 
Holmes and Hubbard. On June 28th of the following year, 
Messrs. Bishop, Howard, and Charles Coolege were elected, 
and in due time ordained, making the whole number of the 
session six. One of that original number, Leverett Bishop, 
continues with us, an honored and greatly beloved Elder unto 
this day, having served now in this office forty-three years. 

Since then the followinor changes have occurred in the 
Eldership: September 13, 1838, Mr. Aaron E. Pettee was 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 177 

elected in the place of Charles Coolege, who had been re- 
moved by death. April 2, 1844, three new Elders were 
elected, viz : Calvin E. Macomber, D. S. Marsh and Warren 
Bragg. June 5th, 1849, Joseph Howard was removed by 
death. November 2d, 1850, Mr. Curtis was removed to 
another church, and since then, as we trust, to the church 
above. Mr. Marsh having also been removed by death, two 
more Elders, Mr. M. M. Gray and Mr. Kiel Fitch, were elected 
March 2d, 1855. Mr. Bragg was dismissed October 5th, 1856, 
to take part in the formation of the n^w church at Clayville. 
Mr. Hubbard died in July, 1868. July 2d, 1875, two new 
Elders were elected, viz: George W. Burpee and William 
Booth, who were ordained October 3d, 1875. Thus the ses- 
sion, as now constituted, consists of seven persons, whose 
names are as follows, in the order of their election : Dr. 
Leverett Bishop, Aaron E. Pettee, Calvin E. Macomber, M. 
Miller Gray, Hiel Fitch, George W. Burpee and William 
Booth. Of this number, however, Aaron E. Pettee is, by 
the complete failure of health, disabled from further service ; 
and it seems appropriate to place on record here a few words 
of appreciation of him as a man, an Elder, and Clerk of the 
Society. As a Christian man, earnest in his convictions, 
faithful, conscientious, self-sacrificing, and well disciplined by 
many a sore family bereavement — two of whose sons were 
freely given and bravel}^ died in their country's service. As 
an Elder, serving faithfully for nearly thirty-eight years, con- 
stant in his attendance on the meetings of session and the 
sanctuary services, although being without a horse, he was 
obliged to traverse on foot, hither and back, the long distance 
between his place of residence and the church. Faithful 
also as Clerk of the Society, in a service of forty yeari?, keep- 
ing the books in excellent order ; and when compelled finally, 
by disease and infirmities, to give place to another, receiving 
a hearty testimonial of the great appreciation of his fellow 
members in the following resolution, which was unanimously 
adopted, and ordered to be recorded on the Society's Book of 
Records : 

" Whereas, The duties of the Clerk of the Board of Trus- 
tees of this Society have devolved on Mr. Aaron E. Pettee, by 
annual election, for forty years, until by failure of his health 
L 



178 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

he is no longer able to perform the duties of said office ; 
therefore, 

" Be it Resolved, By the members of Union Society in an- 
nual meeting assembled, that we bear testimony to the effi- 
ciency and correctness in which .said duties have been per- 
formed ; and would also hereb}^ express our sympathy to the 
brother and his family in the affliction which God, in his 
providence, has sent upon him. 

" Resolved, That the above preamble and resolution be en- 
tered upon the minutes of this Society, and a copy be sent to 
the family." 

But, to return to the history. I was speaking of Mr. South- 
worth, who retired at the close of 1832. He died at Bridge- 
water two years ago, and it was my privilege to be present at 
his funeral. After his retirement there was a vacancy of 
three months, after which, on April 1st, 1833, the Rev. Beriah 
B. Hotchkin began his labors here. On the 30th of April, he 
was installed by the Presbytery of Oneida, the second pastor 
of this congregation. His pastorate, extending over a little 
more than three yt^ars, is favorably remembered by many, even 
to this day; and his brief visit to this scene of hi^ early 
labors, in 1869, was gladly welcomed by many, who young 
then like himself, were now, like himself, well advanced in 
years. If the neatness and correctness with which he kept 
the records of the church be at all the index of the style of 
his ministry, we can well believe that that work too was well 
done. But we have many another evidence pointing to the 
same conclusion in what was actually done, as. both the 
records and history show. In the first year of his ministry, 
measures were taken to give efficiency to the new session. 
The territory of the parish was divided into districts, and an 
Elder assigned to each district for personal visiting, with in- 
struction to pray with those visited whenever consistent. 
The fruits of this new effort were soon apparent. At the 
communion in January, 1834, six were added to the church; 
and during the year twenty-six were added, against seven the 
year before. 

At that time the church took new and important action on 
the subject of te'injperance. It is well known that, in old 
times, the moral sense of men, both in the church and out of 
it, was not awake to this great question as it is to day. Men 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 179 

might be liquor-drinkers, or liquor-sellers, and retain a good 
standing in the church, and be, in fact, good Christian men. 
The name of one of the original members of this church is 
on record in the history of the town, as the keeper of the first 
inn ; yet he appears to have borne a good part in the church, 
and certainly has left some good descendants after him. But 
as time advanced, and the eyes ol the people were opened 
more and more to the evils of intemperance, it came to be felt 
that the only true stand against it was that of Total Absti- 
nence, not only from excess, but from use at all as a beverage 
of anything that can intoxicate. Hence, in 1833, the Pres- 
bytery of Oneida passed several strong resolutions on this 
subject, urging their churches to purge themselves, so far as 
possible, from the existing evil. The action of the Presbytery 
was laid before the church, and they responded by adopting 
the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That this church concur in the first resolution or 
Presb3'tery. That the manufacture, vending, or use of ardent 
spirits, as an article of drink, is a moral evil. 

Resolved, That we earnestly entreat ail our individual 
members to give their influence to the temperance cause, by a 
visible connection with some temperance society, and by 
pledging themselves to refrain from the traffic and use of 
ardent spirits as an article of drink. 

Resolved, That we recommend to our session to adopt a 
rule, by which none shall hereafter be admitted to member- 
ship with us, unless they promise to abstain from the traffic 
and use of ardent spirits as a drink. 

In accordance with this request of the church, the session 

met at the close of the church meeting, and adopted a rule, 

that whenever any person should apply for admission to the 

church, he should answer the following question : " Do you 

solemnly promise to refrain from the traffic and use of ardent 

spirits, as an article of drink ?" and that he should not be 

\ admitted unless he should answer this in the affirmative. 

1 Accordingly, we find that, during the entire pastorship oi 

I Mr. Hotchkin, every one received into the church, whether 

by profession or letter, answered this question in the 

affirmative. 

Afterwards, the cu.stom of asking this question fell into 
disuse. This, however, would by no means indicate a drift of 



I 



180 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

sentiment backwards. . On the contrary, the truth seems to 
be, that the moral sentiment of the age, and the church too — 
at least in these localities — has gone so far forward, and the 
practice here guarded against become so recognized an immor- 
ality, that there is hardly more need to ask this special ques- 
tion than any other, as against profane swearing, or unneces- 
sary working on the Sabbath. It is expected of a church 
member that he will deny himself all ungodliness and every 
foolish and hurtful lust. 

Still, this sentiment in those daj's was not so greatl}' de- 
veloped. Notwithstanding this action of the church, and rule 
for new membership, some of the old members still continued 
the hurtful practice. They were not drunkards, but they 
were drinkers; and hence, a year and a half later, the session 
issued a long and affectionate letter of admonition to them, 
which was read from the pulpit, and, in which, these ])ersons 
were entreated " To consider whether the practice did not 
greatly prevent their usefulness in the cause of Christ, and 
bring the Gospel into disrepute," and whether it was not, 
therefore, " A sin, which ought to be abandoned." In con- 
nection with the reading of this letter, the pastor was re- 
quested to deliver at the time, a discourse appropriate to the 
subject. We presume that he did as requested. 

I may add that this general position of the church upon 
this question, we hold to-day, and so far as I know, the prac- 
tice of our members is more completely consistent with it now 
than then. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Hotchkin, forty-four were 
added to the church, and the number of church members at 
its close, was 124. Thus, again, we see that while many 
were added, many left. The strength of the church in num- 
bers was still about the same. 

Mr. Hotchkin retired from the pastorate the last of August, 
1836.. He is still living, his post-office address being Broom- 
all, near Philadelphia, Pa. Those who read the New York 
Evangelist are able to keep up acquaintance with him as the 
Philadelphia correspondent. 

After his retirement, there was a vacancy of nineteen 
mouths, supplied in part, by occasional preaching, by the Rev.. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 181 

Mr. Crafts for a few weeks ; the Rev. David Gilmer, for about 
six months, and the Rev. Mr. Gilbert, for a somewhat shorter 
period. During this vacancy, but one member was added to 
the church. 

The next pastor was the Rev. Francis Janes, who began 
his labors April 1st, 1838, and was installed the third jjastoi' 
on December 5th. His labors continued until the first Sab- 
bath of July, 1841. He is remembered here as one, who, al- 
though not a great preacher, was a very earnest and success- 
ful Christian worker. The remark was made to me not long 
ago, by one who remembers him, that he " Always liked, es- 
pecially, to hear Mr. Janes preach, because he gave the im- 
pression that he fully believed himself every word he said." 
Thisj certainly, should be called the very highest pulpit talent- 
It was the talent in his case, which, together with his earnest 
laborious work as a pastor, made his brief pastorship here, 
remarkable for its great success. There was a revival during 
the first winter, as a result of which ten united with the 
church in the next May; fifteen in July, and in all, thirty- 
four in the 3'ear 1839. Fortj'-seven in all united with the 
church during his ministry, and yet, the number of removals 
and deaths so neai'ly corresponded with the additions, that he 
left the church about the same in numbers as he found it, 
125. It was during the pastorship of Mr. Janes that the 
Ladies' Benevolent Association was formed. It was organized 
in July, 1838, under the name of the Ladies' Foreign Mission- 
ary Society, but at the first annual meeting after organiza- 
tion, the name was changed to that which it now has. This 
Association has met monthly, during all seasons of the year, 
ever since that date unto the present time, and it is still in 
the full tide of its vigor and usefulness. 

On the 2d Sabbath of July, the very next after Mr. Janes 
closed his labors, the Rev. John Waugh began his work and 
continued his ministry here for fourteen years, closing it on 
the first Sabbath of July, 1855. His is the longest pastorate 
that this church ever enjoyed. Of his pulpit talent especially, 
I need hardly speak, for it is not only well remembered here, 
but well known in the churches of central New York, in one 
of which he is still engaged, with no abatement of vigor, in 
the pastoral work. 



182 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

As I have said, Mr. Waugh began his labors here on the 2d 
Sabbath of July, 184-1. He was not installed pastor, how- 
ever, until the latter part of 1843. Meanwhile, however, 
there was another revival in the winter of 1842 and '43, so- 
that twenty were added to the church in the following May,.] 
and still more were added, as the fruits of the revival, during-^ 
the following winter. 

The time had now come when it appeared necessary, either 
to repair the old church edifice, or build anew. On JanuaryOth,., 
1843, a committee was appointed to take this into considera- 
tion. They decided to build anew. So prompt was the soci- 
ety in carrying out this decision, that the building, begun in 
the spring and completed in the same year, was dedicated ta 
the worship of the Triune God, December 27th, 1843. In 
the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Waugh was installed the 
fouurih pastor of this church. 

Thus the year which, according to the Millerites, was to- 
close up the history of this world, witnessed indeed, though 
on a smaller scale, the end of the old church building, and the 
beginning of the new. This new building has now stood for 
thirty-three years, about the same length of time as the 
other, whose place it occupies. 

It was also during Mr. Waugh's ministry, that the present 
parsonage was built. He was its first occupant. 

From 1845 to 1854, there appears to have been no marked 
revival, and yet there was a steady accession to the church 
membership during most of the time. In 1855, fourteen were 
added, thirteen of them at one time. During the whole 
pastorship of Mr. Waugh, 107 persons united with the 
church ; and yet, by reason of removals and deaths, the num- 
ber of members at its close, was only 116. He closed his 
labors on the first Sabbath of July, 1855. Since then he has 
been pastor at Canton, St. Lawrence county, for the same- 
length of time as here, fourteen years. He is now in his- 
thiid pastorship, at Carthage, in this State. 

After the retirement of Mr. Waugh, there was a vacancy 
of 21 months, in which the pulpit was supplied by several 
persons, among them the Rev. Alexander McLean and the- 
Rev. Judson R. Aspinwall, who each supplied for three- 
months. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 183 

It was during this vacancy that the Church of Clayville 
was organized. The religious society there was formed in the 
spring of 1856. On the oth of October, 1856, the following 
persons were dismissed from this Church to constitute with 
others the Presbyterian Church of Clayville, viz : Lloyd 
Johnson and wife. Elder Warren Bragg, Mrs. Ahnira Bragg, 
J. J. Millard, Mrs Clarissa Millard and Mrs. Sally GofF, and 
shortly after, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrows and Mrs. Catharine 
Garlock. From these and other dismissions and deaths, the 
total membership was reduced to ninety-five in the spring of 
1857, at which time, on the first of April, the Rev. Joseph 
N. McGiffert became the fifth pastor. 

The labors of Mr. McGitfert in this pastorship continued for 
a little over nine years. He was a pastor greatly beloved, 
and the hearts of the people were fondly centered in him 
during all that period. Attractive as a preacher, and genial 
as a man, faithful as a pastor, and gentle and loving towards 
all, always seeking to win and never to drive, he well de- 
served, and still deserves the warm love with which, as it has 
been mine to observe, this people still remember him. In the 
winter following his entrance on this field, there was another 
revival of religion, as a result of which seventeen were added 
to the church in March, 1858, and forty during that year. 
This revival was undoubtedly a part of the grand awakening 
which swept so mightily over the Northern States, and has 
made the year 1858 memorable in the history of this country, 
as the great spiritual recovery fiom the great financial disaster 
of the year before. 

The number of admissions to the church during the pastor- 
ship of Mr. McGiff'ert were 109, seventy of these on confes- 
sion of their faith. Deaths, dismissions, and correcting of 
the roll, however, reduced the net increase to 38, so that the 
whole number, when he preached his farewell sermon, was 
133. This left the membership of the church twenty-one 
more than before the separation of the Clayville church. 

It was during his pastorate that the war of the Rebellion 
occurred, during which he himself served a term of six 
weeks in the United States Christian Commission, and more 
fortunate than the i)resent pastor, escaped sickness on the 
Southern field, to sufi'er it, however, after his return home. 



184 TIISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

There is but little on record to show the part which this 
church bore in sustaining the Government during that 
fearful struggle ; but that she was loyal to the core, can- 
not be doubted. Had she more young men in her 
membership, doubtless she would have been more largely 
represented in the camp and battle-field. As it was, the 
sons of her members were many of them there, some 
never to return, and in the loss of their dear society, in the 
dangers, hardships and death, which those at home, who 
loved them, knew them to be enduring, and in the gifts and 
sacrifices to sustain the loyal cause which were freely made, 
I think it may be said of this church, as indeed of almost 
every other in these Northern States, " she did what she 
could." To God be all the praise for the patriotic spirit 
which he poured into the hearts of his churches in that time 
which tried men's souls, and which probably more than all 
things else sustained the spirit of the whole people through 
all the toil and through every disaster, until finally, the cause 
was triumphant, slavery was abolished, and the Union 
saved. 

On the loth of June, 1866, Mr. McGiffert closed his labors 
here, and removed to Ashtabula, where he now resides. 
After his departure, there was a vacancy until the close of 
the year 1867. At the beginning of 1868, the Rev. E. B. 
Parsons was engaged as stated supply, and labored as such 
for eight months, closing his labors here ou the last of August, 
to accept a call to the Presbyterian Church of Baldwiusville, 
where he is now the pastor. 

On the 1st of February, 1869, the present pastor began his 
labors here, and on the 6th of July of the same year, he was 
installed the sixth pastor of this church. Concerning my 
own life and labors here, it becomes me to say but little. In 
fact, there is not much to be said. That I have tried to do 
my duty, and serve the Saviour in my imperfect, yet sincere 
way, is enough for me to assert. During my pastorship, up 
to the present time, eighteen have been received into the 
church by profession of faith, and thirteen by letter — thirty- 
one in all. The number of members, when I began ray labors 
here, was 119. The number at present, as I count them on 
the list, is 116. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 185 

Let me mention here, as worthy of notice in this history, 
the formation of the Ladies' Missionary Association durinf^ 
the last year, also the building of our lecture room during 
the same year. 

But one thing has greatly impressed me in reviewing this 
history, that is, the care of God to preserve this church, not- 
withstanding its many losses. In times when the removals 
were the greatest in number, so the additions were correspond- 
ingly the largest. It seems to have been ours to maintain a 
nearly uniform rate of membership for about half a century. 
At the close of Mr. Bogue's ministry, the number of mem- 
bers was 125. At the close of Mr. Catlin's, 128. At the close 
of Mr. South worth's, 116, the same as now. At the close of 
Mr. Hotchkms', 124. At the close of Mr. Janes', 125. At 
the close of Mr. Waugh's, the number again was 116. After 
that, and especially after the formation of the church at 
Clayville, the number was reduced to 95. But it was quickly 
enlarged, so that at the preaching of Mr. McGitfert's historical 
sermon, in 1860, it was 130. At the close of his ministry, it 
was 133. At the beginning of my ministry it was 119, and 
now it is 116. Thus we notice that for fifty-one years this 
church has neither been greatly enlarged nor greatly dimin- 
ished. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

EARLY MASONIC HISTORY IN THE SAUQUOIT VALLEY. 

The first record of any attempt to establish Freemasonry 
in the colonies of North America was a deputation granted 
by the Grand Lodge of England, in 1730, Duke of Norfolk, 
Grand Master, to Samuel Coxe, for the provinces of New 
Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. But there is no record 
that Brother Coxe used his authority or performed any Ma- 
sonic acts. The first charter for a Provincial Grand Lodge in 



186 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

New York, was granted by the Grand Lodge of England, in 
1737, by Grand Master Earl of Darnley to Richard Riggs as 
Provincial Grand Master. The records of this Grand Lodge 
were destroyed during the war of the Revolution. In 1747^ 
under the Grand Mastership of Lord Byron, provincial pat- 
ents were issued for New York. Francis Goalet was Provin- 
cial Grand Master. He was succeeded by George Harrison, 
in 1753, who was regularly installed in due and ancient form, 
December 27 of that year. He was succeeded by Sir John 
Johnson in 1760, which office he held until the commence- 
ment of the war of the Revolution, when he espoused the 
cause of the British, suspended the meetings of the Grand 
Lodge, and took possession of the records, etc., which were 
finally destroyed during the war, most of the lodges sus- 
pending business, and the work of the craft was transferred 
to the army or traveling lodges. September 5th, 1781, the 
Duke of Athol, Grand Master of the " Ancient Grand Lodge 
of England," granted a charter to Rev. William Walter to 
open a Provincial Grand Lodge as its Grand Master, the first 
meeting of which was held December 5th, 1782, at which 
nine city lodges and six military lodges connected with the 
British army were present. At the close of the war and the 
evacuation of the city of New York by the British army, the 
military lodges and many of the grand officers left the 
country. September 19, 1783, Brother Walter resigned and 
William Cock was unanimously elected Grand Master. Feb- 
ruar}^ 4th, 1784, Brother Cock resigned and the Hon. Robert 
R. Livingston was elected Grand Master, from which we date 
our Grand Lodge. There is no record as to when the Grand 
Lodge changed from Provincial to Independent, but it is 
generally conceded that when the articles of peace were rati- 
fied, the change took place as a matter of course, without any 
formal action, and was a natural and legal result. The arch- 
ives of the Grand Lodge do not contain reports of the early 
subordinate lodges, as was later on required, and in conse- 
quence it is no easy task, at this late day, to trace their 
history. 

One bright, beautiful morning, late in September, 1793, a 
pioneer of what is now New Berlin, in the full flush and 
prime of early manhood, vaulted gracefully into the saddle^ 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 187 

and with a certain air of mystery surrounding his prepara- 
tions, concealing from his family his destination or its object, 
merely informing them that they might look for his return 
the following day, took his way through the wilderness to the 
north. His journey was necessarily slow, only a bridle path 
leading through the woods along the banks of the Unadilla. 
The sun had reached high meridian when he dismounted at 
a capacious log house, at what is now Bridgewater, the genial 
proprietor of which was wont to entertain in a primitive 
though bountiful manner the land-agents, prospectors and the 
occasional straggling guests, that in those early days found 
their way to his humble frontier inn. Having rested and re- 
freshed himself and his trusty horse, he remounted and re- 
sumed his journey, taking his route over the distinctly marked 
trail, opened up a few years previously by a detachment who 
joined Sullivan's campaign at Otsego Lake, and which led 
him through what was afterward Paris Hollow (now Cass- 
ville,) and thence along the high ground to Paris Hill. The 
lonely ride through a dense primeval forest on a bright au- 
tumn day, the weird sense of solitude in the deep, dark 
shade, the pure, exhilarating air, laden with the delightful aro- 
ma of cedar, hemlock, pine and the flora, the ringing ca'-ol of the 
feathered songsters, the startled scamper of the timid rabbits 
and smaller game, with the ever cautious outlook for the pos- 
sibly more fierce denizens of the glade, combined to produce 
an indescribably thrilling charm, experienced by none of this 
generation, except, perhaps, those who may find their way on 
an occasional pleasure excursion, and " pack in " to the North 
Woods. As he neared Paris Hill, the quick, sharp, echoing 
strokes of the woodman's axe, and in all directions the re- 
sounding crash and roar of the falling giants of the forest, 
were the first evidences of civilization he encountered, at 
which little settlement he briefly halted. Again in the saddle 
and holding his course along the summit ridge, he at length 
began the descent of the northern slope, and ere long, debouch- 
ing from the dark woods into the clearing, halted in amaze- 
ment at the grand, magnificent scene unfolded to his view. 
Beyond, and far to the north a vast ampitheatre of dark, un- 
broken forest, bounded on the apex of the distant hills of Deer^ 
field, Marcy and Floyd, where it seemed to join the sky and 



188 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

vie with it in its deep, dark hue of beautiful blue ; nearer, in 
the broad expansive valley of the Mohawk, the shadowed 
woods lay dark and sombre; while still nearer, and in full 
view of the foreground, the lovely valley of the Sauquoit, with 
the trembling, fluttering foliage of its sea of verdure, swaying 
and agitated by the mellow autumn breeze, the still clinging 
leaves touched by the frost fiend's first warning breath dis- 
played in all the colors of the rainbow, variegated by a thou- 
sand blending shades and tints, all glinting and shimmering, 
under the rays of the declining sun, while the towering hem- 
locks, with their dark, everlasting green, in striking contrast, 
reared their mighty heads up through this sylvan sea of beau- 
ty, like giant sentinels ; and at his very feet, in the gathering 
shadow of the now setting sun, nestled the little frontier vil- 
lage of New Hartford, the spacious residence of Judge Sanger, 
the great land agent, looming up, surrounded by some half 
dozen unpretentious frame and log houses in the only clearing 
visible in this otherwise vast, unbroken, native forest. The 
neigh of his impatient steed recalled him from his awe-inspi- 
ring rapture, when he slowly descended and soon approached 
the stately residence of the far-famed land agent, not however 
without some trepidation. But the Judge, b}' whom his arri- 
val was evidently looked for, came out to meet him as he 
swung from his horse, and in an easy, cordial manner extend- 
ed a welcome that at once put him at his ease and dispelled 
all embarrassment, and, giving the horse in charge of an at- 
tendant with directions for its care, courteously conducted 
him within. After partaking of a bountiful supper they to- 
gether went over the farm, the Judge with great pride ex- 
plaining his various improvements. The round, full moon 
grandly lifting up from behind Steele's Hill, flooding with sil- 
ver sheen the valley and the hill-sides, reminded them that it 
was Lodge night — (lodges at that day met at the full of the 
moon) — and terminated their ramble. Judge Jedediah San- 
ger was the pioneer Master Mason in Central New York, and 
his house being the only building in all that region of suitable 
size for the purpose, he accordingly finished off" in the cham- 
ber an ample lodge room, where he presided many years as^ 
the accomplished Master of old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, whicl 
was chartered April 7, 1792, the first in the county, being 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 189 

veritable "lodge in some vast wilderness." As they returned 
to the house the members had already commenced arriving 
from Whitestown, Utica and Clinton — this being the only 
lodge — and the Judge, consigning his guest to his accom- 
plished and witty wife to entertain, repaired to the lodge- 
room for the purpose of " opening." After a little, the conver- 
sation lagging, our wearied horseman partially reclined on the 
sofa, relapsing into silence, while Mrs. S. industriously pur- 
sued her knitting in front of the capacious, glowing fireplace. 
Soon after, apparently suddenly recollecting herself, she laid 
aside her knitting and, with the large, old-fashioned oven- 
slice, (a shovel-like iron implement, with flat blade and lono- 
handle, used for putting in and taking out the loaves of bread, 
&c., from the deep brick ovens,) hauled out on the bright 
brick hearth an ample bed of ejlowing coals, at the same time 
calling to her daughter, bus}' in putting away the supper 
dishes in the adjoining kitchen, to " bring her the gridiron, as 
she thought from appearances, that they were going to make 
a Mason, and you know how impatient the Judge always 
gets, if the gridiron isn't hot just at the moment they require 
it." The order complied with, the gridiron was placed on the 
bed of coals, after which, in a matter-of-course manner she 
resumed her knitting. Just then, there was a slight move- 
ment on the sofa. The recumbent guest straightened up, 
slowly arose to his feet, walked leisurely to the window, look- 
ing out for a moment or two in a careless unconcerned man- 
ner, then reaching up to the peg where it hung, took down 
his cap, opened the door and passed out into the moonlight. 
As the door closed behind him the gridiron was removed, the 
coals swept back, the hearth neatly brushed, and she again 
demurely applied herself to the knitting. In due time the 
Judge came down, and noticing the absence of his guest, sat 
down and waited, thinking he had probably stepped out for 
a moment only, but as the slow moments dragged away, and 
he came not back, inquired of Mrs. S.; but she had no knowl- 
edge of his movements only that a short time before he had 
taken his cap, and without any remark had gone out ; where- 
upon the Judge went out, loooked around a little, coughed 
and ahem-ed significantly ; meeting no response he took his 
way to the stables, opened the door and looked in. The horse, 



190 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

saddle, bridle and man were gone. Completely dumbfounded, 
he returned and made his report to the assembled lodge, who 
consequently, not having much " work " that night, soon dis- 
persed ; our solitary horseman, meantime, far up the hillside, 
was picking his way along the dimly moon-lit bridle path — 
taking the back-track home. They never saw him more. 
He had heard the " gag," started by some old-time broad joker, 
that Masons at their initiation were branded with a gridiron, 
but hoped it was only an idle rumor, but now he was fully 
convinced that it was only too true, and thanked his stars 
that it was so luckily disclosed to him before those Masons 
got him up stairs, where he could not have made his escape. 
The Judge perplexed himself over the matter considerably. 
The witty Mrs. S., after a few days, in great confidence, glee- 
fully imparted the whole transaction to a Mason's wife, enjoin- 
ing strictest secrecy ; and of course every member of the 
lodge soon had the story in all its details. What woman 
ever did keep a secret ? The lodge had lost that " Sheaf of 
Wheat," but the joke was counted good enough to balance the 
loss of one candidate, and the clever perpetrator was readily 
exonerated. Those old pioneers who did have the courage to 
"face" the possible calamity of being branded, will appear in 
the following list of members of old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, 
F. & A. M., of New Hartford, (formerly Whitestown,) char- 
tered April 7, 1792, with date of admission : 

CHARTER MEMBERS. 

1792 — Jedediah Sanger, Jared Chittenden, Isaac Jones, 
Benjamin Merrill, Jonas Piatt, Arthur Breese, Elias Kane, 

Jesse Woodruff, Ewing Wharey, ■ Veder, Abijah Putnam, 

Seth Riney. 

AFTERWARD ADMITTED. 

1793— Thomas R. Gold, John Beardsley, Uriah Wright, 
John N. Wemple, Evins Whany, Ebenezer Butler, Amasa 
Andrus, John Myers, William Veder, Gaylord Griswold,Caleb 
B. Merrills, Jonathan Hall, Asa Parmelee, David Ostrom, 
Jared Steele, Lysimore Wilder, Ebenezer Britten, Reuben 
Long, George Doolittle, Elizur Mossley, Abel French, Jonathan 
Moie, Noadiah Hubbard, Nathan Smith, Timothy Tuttle, 



EARLY MASOYIC HISTORY. 191 

Alexander Enos, John Post, Oliver Collins, James Steele, 
Eliiah Flowers, Wm. Colbrath, Ephraim Blackinan, Lemuel 
Levenworth, Edward Salisbury, Samuel Sizer, Eliakim Elmer 
Luke Wemple, Richard Willis, Samuel Collins, Jonas Wyman, 
Nathaniel Marsh, William Sayles, Benjamin Pike, Lysmer 
Wilds, John Tillotson, Amos Mathews, Alexander Dorchester. 

1794 — John Choat, John Ballard, F. W. Kellogg, Ebenezer 
Butler, Jr., Michael Myers, Loriug Webb, Levi Sartweli, 
Richard Sanger, Alpheus Wheelock, Nedam Maynard, Daniel 
Perkins, Josiah Jumins. 

1794' — Thomas Brown, Amos Ives, Jo.seph Farwell, John R. 
Bone, Lot North. 

1795 — Stephen White, Richard Starkweather, John H. 
Perkins, Mathew Hurlbuit, Joseph Kirkland, Jesse Pierce, 
John Edgett, Levi Hill, Hiram Innus, Thos. Norton, Thos. 
Caselty, Eli Butler, Ephraim Waldo, Elias Merrells, Richard 
Perkins, James Henry. 

1796 — Amos G. Hull, M. D., Asahel Jackson, Benj. Morris, 
Philo White, James Sheldon, Barnabas Lathrop, Daniel Chap- 
man, Geoige Standard, John Fames, Uri Doolittle, Grove 
Lawrence, Selah Seymour, James Dorchester, Jonathan Pat- 
ten, John Kendall, Asa Way. 

1797 — Elnathan Andrews, John Goldsmith, Asahel Gridley, 
James Chapman, Artemus Jackson, Warren Hicox, William 
Henry, Stephen Turner, Kanak Mills, William Sage, Ezekiel 
Clark, Thomas Sayles, Joseph Pierce, Caleb Jackson, Windsor 
Stone, Gershum Hubbel, Ebenezer Pardy. 

1798 — Lemuel Johnson, Waitstill Dickenson, Samuel Hall, 
Truman Enos, Richard May, Theodore Woodruff, Ebenezer 
Hawley, Jeremiah Whipple, James Green, Joseph Yaw, 
Joshua Ostrom, Stephen Ford, Abraham Van Epes, Jonathan 
Barker, Eleazur House, Josiah Whitney, Richard Whitney, 
Justus Tower, Asahel Higby. 

1799 — Ebenezer Kimball, Oliver Hove}^ James Jackson, Job 
Herrick, Joshua Johnson, Enoch Storey. 

1800— John Paddock, William Huggins, Jesse Shepard, 
Samuel Meggs, Nehemiah Easworth. 

1801 — Asahel Beach, Aaron Rider, Spaulding Pierce, M.D. 
Asa Shepard, Bele Thompson, Alpha Hovey, Earle, Au- 
gustus Sayles. 



192 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

1802— John Cross. 

1803 — Peter Raymond, Gardner Avery, Thomas McKustry, 
Cobb Sampson, John Remington. 

1804 — Ebenezer Steward, Eliphalet Sweeting, Benjamin 
Allen, George Richards. 

1805 — John White, Justin Farnham, James Birth wrong. 

1806 — John C. Ives, Giles Santord, John H. Handy, Simeon 
G. Wilbor. 

1807 — James Lowell, Oren Ives, Isaac Pitcher, Lewis Sher- 
rell, Asher Flint, James G. Hunt, Wm. J. Hopkins. 

1808 — Amos Seward, Daniel Powel, Alfred Smith, Abel 
Beers. 

1810 — Benjamin Taylor, Obadiah Conger, Reuben Brown. 

1811 — Augustus Hurlburt, J. 0. Wattler, Daniel Stanton. 

1812 — Samuel J. Grannis, Nathaniel Caulking, Eleazer 
Hovey. 

Later members of unknown date, the books having been 
destroyed by tire in 1830 : Amos Rogers, Sr., Oliver G. Rog- 
ers, Nathan Rogers, Solomon Rogers, George Stratton, Ezra 
Stiles, Captain King Strong, N. W. Moore, Samuel Lyon, Dr. 
Gilbert A. Foster, I.saac G. Stratton, D. Lanterman, B. F. 
Hurlbert, Samuel Tyler, Joseph Foster, Joseph Wheeler, S. E. 
Johnson, Elizur Steele, Jairus Stanley, Charles S. Brown, 
Amos Robinson, Thomas Laister, John Walker, A. C. Tread- 
way, A. R. Gillmore, James Norman, Ezra H. Curtiss, B. F. 
Ward, John Grime, Richard Mills, Daniel W. Tower, Martin 
J. Stiles, Eli Savage, John Sawyer, Calvin Lockart, George 
Bigelow, E. M. Gibbs, George Anderson, W. S. Steele, Samuel 
Dakin. Richard Wells. Total, 240. 

EARLY OFFICERS. 

1792-1801 — Jedediah Sanger, Master. 

1802 — Elnathan Andrews, Master ; Dr. Amos G. Hull, S. W^ ; 
Richard Sanger, J. W. 

1814-1823— J. Remington, Tiler. 

1823-1826— Isaac G. Stratton, Master; Nathaniel Caulk- 
ing, S. W..; John Walker, J. W.; Elizur Steele, Treas.; Dr. 
Gilbert A. Foster, Sec'y ; George Bigelow, S. D. ; Martin J. 
Stiles. J. D. 

1827— Samuel Dakin, Sec'y. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 193~ 

There are ao returns in the Grand Lodge of the early mem- 
bers, but among the papers there, besides a few unpaid notes, 
is a record that they i)aid SlO a year for lot No. 7, New Hart- 
ford. The other bills are small, mostly for candles, cider, beer 
and crackers. They paid to Sanger & Co. $1.00 for a plumb 
and level. The late Dr. Gilbert A. Foster, who presented to 
the present Amicable Lodge, No. 064, the Bible, Altar, Slipper, 
Level and Two Columns, was the last surviving officer of old 
Amicable Lodge No. 25, those cherished, time-honored relics, 
comprising the few things rescued from the Lodge when de- 
stroyed by fire in the year ISyO, and were carefully preserved 
by him for many years, to be finally transmitted to the new 
Lodge, organized in 1868, nearly forty years after the destruc- 
tion of the old pioneer Lodge of the county. That great 
Light of Masonry, the Bible, so providentially rescued from 
the flames of old Amicable Lodge, now reposing on their 
altar, is a sacred prize to cherish highly. The pioneers that 
from time to time sealed their Masonic vows on that ancient 
volume, were the founders of Utica, New Hartford, Paris, 
Whitestown, Bridgewater and Kirkland. They battled with 
the wilderness and replaced the wild, tangled forest with fer- 
tile fields with verdure clad, blossoming orchards and rural 
homes. They were the first Magistrates and Judges, Mem- 
bers of Assembly, Congressmen and Supervisors; veterans of 
the Revolution and the war of 1812. Churches and schools 
were founded and grew up under their fostering care; mills, 
factories, furnaces, machine shops, and the various industries 
they established, made the valley of the Sauquoit a teeming 
hive of industry and prosperity, and the county of Oneida 
famous throughout the State and Nation for its manufactures, 
wealth and educational enterprises. To write out the history 
of each of these pioneer Masons, would fill a library. Among 
the most prominent in that roll of honor, however, may be 
mentioned Jedediah Sanger, the pioneer of New Hartford, a 
land agent, purchasing one thousand acres there in 1788, (the 
present site of the village,) interested in founding the Paris 
Furnace Company, Clayville; Farmers' Factory, South Sau- 
quoit; built the grist mill, now McLean's, in 1790, and in 
1796 the grist mill at the mouth of the Skaneateles Lake, 
M 



194 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

•Onondaga county; was interested in a cotton factory in 1815, 
one of the principal owners of the Seneca Turnpike, first Su- 
pervisor of Whitestown, and first Judge of Oneida county. 
He died full of honors June 6, 1829, aged 78. 

General Joseph Kirkland was interested also in the Farm- 
ers' Factory and the Seneca Tm-npike — being for many years 
the President and Treasurer — the Oneida Glass Factory, the 
New Hartford Manufacturing Company, Ontario Branch Bank, 
JIamiiton College, the Utica Academy, Presbyterian Church, 
and most of the early institutions of the county. He was 
burn in Norwich, Conn., January 18, 1770, graduated at Yale 
•College in 1790, studied law with Judge Swift, of Windham, 
and aftervA^ards was admitted to the bar in Oneida county ; 
Member of Assembly in 1803, '18, '21 and '25 ; District Attor- 
ney in 1813-16 ; first Mayor of Utica in 1832, and again in 
1834, and died January 2, 1844. 

Joseph Higbee was the second settler of New Hartford, 
purchasing of Judge Sanger a large tract, east of the creek, of 
his thousand acres. Col. Gardner Avery, Member of Assem- 
bly in 1827, pioneer of Clayville, manager of the Paris Fur- 
nace ; the Lenox Furnace; Superintendent of the Seneca 
Turnpike, and one of the owners of the Farmers' Factory. 
Judge Eliphalet Sweeting, founder, in charge of Paris Fur- 
nace. Jonas Piatt, County Clerk of Herkimer county, and of 
Oneida county, when it was formed from Herkimer, in 1798; 
Member of Assembly in 179G ; to Congress in 1799-1801; 
State Senator in 1810-11-12-13, and candidate for Governor 
in 1810 against Daniel D. Tompkins, and only defeated by a 
small majority. Arthur Breese, law partner of Jonas Piatt, 
was Deputy County Clerk, Master in Chancery, Member of 
Assembly, 1796-97, and first Surrogate of Oneida county and 
Clerk of the Supreme Court, in 1808. Benejah Merrill, auc- 
tioneer in Utica in 1802; sherifi" in 1807-10; removed to 
Sacketts Harbor in 1819, and died January 27, 1831. David 
Ostrom, a soldier of the Revolution, first Supervisor of the 
town of Paris, Member of Assembly for many years, County 
Judge from 1798 until 1816, and in conjunction with Captain 
Bacon built the grist mill and saw mill at Sauquoit, in 1797. 
Nathan Smith, Member of Assembly 1798, 1801, 1802, and 
one of the first Trustees of the Bank of Utica in 1812. John 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 195 

Post, first merchant and first Postmaster in Utica, buildino- 
the first frame house in Utica in 1790; also kept a hotel 
General Oliver Collins, of Middle Settlement, was a General 
of militia at Sacketts Harbor, in the War of 1812. Timothy 
Tuttle built the first frame house at Paris Hill, also the first 
in Kirkland, in 1789, and Ebenezer Butler built the second 
frame house there. Justus Tower, early prominent settler in 
Xirkland. Richard Sanger, Member of Assembly in 1815, 
and Captain King Strong, early tavern keepers in New Hart- 
ford. Uri Doolittle, revolutionary soldier and pioneer of 
Paris, and Member of Assembly for several years. Dr. Spauld- 
ing Pierce, pioneer physician of Sauquoit. Dr. Amos G. Hull 
was the pioneer physician of Paris Hill and New Hartford, 
and afterwards, in 1811, in Utica. Asa Shepard, (>ne of the 
j)ioneers ot Paris, and a large landholder. Joseph Farwell, 
the first settler of Bridgewater. Eli Butler, (father of the 
Paris pioneers, John and Sylvester,) settled in New Harttord 
in 1795, on what is now the Morgan Butler farm. Amos 
Rogers, Sr., and his son, Oliver G. Rogers, pioneer manufac- 
turers of cotton and woolen machinery, and founders of the 
Willowvale machine shops, destroyed by fire a few years 
since. Nathan Rogers, inventor of the locomotive head-light. 
Solomon Rogers, the veteran merchant of Sauquoit. Thomas 
R. Gold, Member of Congress for several years, and in con- 
junction with General George Doolittle, built the first cotton 
factory at New York Mills, in 1808. Philo White, son of 
•Judge White, the first settler of Whitestown, was a promi- 
nent merchant there. Abraham Van Eps was Member of 
Assembly in 1803, and proprietor of a Patent of land in Ver- 
non ; had a trading-post at the mouth of the Oriskany, in 
1785; (the first merchant in Oneida county;) established the 
.first store in Westmoreland, in 1787; also was the first mer- 
chant in Vernon, in 1798. John Beardsley built the first mill 
in Oneida county, on the Sauquoit Creek, at WhKestown, in 
1788. Caleb Merrill, the Whitneys, Barker and Hovey were 
prominent pioneers in Kirkland. Augustus Hurlburt, chair- 
maker, afterward removed to Utica and opened a warehouse 
on Bleecker street, and on Genesee, above Bleecker. Nathan- 
iel Caulking, a noted builder and carpenter, planned and 
■erected the Episcopal church at New Hartford. He is remem- 



19(3 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

bered as a very "bright" Mason, well posted in the unwritten 
traditions, and in those early times, and before the office of 
Grand Lecturer was known, imparted instruction to brethren 
in this section, in the cabalistic ritual of the mystic tie. 

1814' — Samuel Lyon, the pioneer paper maker of the county; 
N. W. Moore, who learned the trade of him, and afterward 
founded the extensive paper mills atSauquoit; Dr. Gilbert 
A. Foster, the pioneer dentist of Utica, and many years Secre- 
tary' of the Lodge; Squire Samuel Dakin, a prominent man 
in town, and the last Secretary of the old Lodge. 

From the members of old Amicable, chartered April 7, 
1792, Federal I^odge, No. 80, of Paris, (afterward Kirklabd,) 
was founded, and chartered Nov. 23, 1799, and Paris Lodge, 
No. 348, August 14, 1822; and from the latter was formed 
Sauquoit, No. 150, June 21, 184'9, and from that. Amicable, 
No. 6G4, of Washington Mills, June 15, 1868, Of the 24-0 
members of the old pioneer Amicable Lodge, all have gone to 
"that undiscovered country from whose bourne no tiaveler 
returns," save one, — the old-time merchant, Solomon Rogers 
of Sauquoit, who alone survives. 

FEDERAL LODGE NO. 80, F. AND A. M. 

At a meeting of the M. W. Grand Lodge of the State or 
New York, held in June, 1799, fifteen j^ears after the Grand 
Lodge was organized, a petition for a Lodge, signed by 
Nathan Whitney, Jonathan Barker, Justus Tower, Asahel 
Gridley and Hon. Uri Doolittle, was received, and Federal 
Lodge, No. 80, of Pans, (afterward Clinton,) was chartered 
November 23, 1799. The officers were installed December 
18, 1799, by Judge Jedediah Sanger, of Amicable Lodge, No, 
25, of Whitestown, (afterward j New Hartford,) as follows: 
R. W. Jonathan Barker, Master; W. Joseph Simouds, S. 
W. ; W. Selah Seymour, J. W. ; Oliver Lucas, Treasurer; 
Eleazer House, Secretary ; Justus Tower, S. D. ; Haynes 
Bennett, J. D. ; Josiah A. Whitney and Samuel Meigs, 
Stewards ; Abel Lawrence, Tiler. 

In addition to the charter members, there were George 
Brown, Samuel Clernon. Ezra Dervey, Josiah Brown, Joseph 
Hart, Daniel Brown, Abraham Windsor, Alpheus Hitchcock, 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORV. 197 

■Oorshom Orvis, William Norton and Jeremiah Tooley, Fed- 
eral Lodge went down under the Morgan excitement, and 
surrendered its charter in June, 1831. The first Masonic 
burial of a brother of the mystic tie in the town of Paris was 
Medad Wilmot, who died November 24, 1805, aged 21 years, 
and was buried with the solemn rites of the Order in St. 
Paul's church-yard, Paris Hill, and a suitable headstone was 
erected by the fraternity. 

PARIS LODGE, NO. 34-8, F. AND A. M. 

The foUowiog officers were duly installed, August 14th, 
1822, by the acting Most Worshipful Grand Master, Moses 
Foot, viz : Amasa Millard, W. M. ; Asahel Cuitiss, S. W. ; 
Spaulding Pierce, M. D., J. W. ; Hon. Uri Doolittle, Treas. ; 
Hobart Graves, Sec. ; Joseph B. Ball, S. D. ; Philo C. Curtis, 
J. D. ; Isaac Sexton, Daniel Bdach, Stewards ; Charles Millard, 
Tiler. 

W. Masters.— 1S2S, A. Millard; 1824, Abraham Sage; 
1825, Abraham Sage; 1826, Cyrus Chatfield ; 1827, Hon. 
Uri Doolittle; 1828, 1829, 1830, William Knight; 1831, 
Henry W. Adams ; 1832. 1833, 1834, William Knight. 

List of members other than the first officers. — Leverett 
Bishop, M. D., Solomon Rogers. Asa Shepard, A. S. Sweet. 
Josiah Mosher, A. Bartlett, William Geere, Abiaham Sage, 
Philo C. Curtis, Lenthiel Eels, A, Harvey. Admitted: Sept. 
3, Abner Brownell, Cyrus Chatfield ; Sept. 17, David Loring, 
Noel Jones, Charles Wilcox; October 1, Henry A. Millard, 
George W. Brayton ; October 15, H. M. Cole, J. Stroud, A. 
Mace, John Corse; October 29, Edwin Webster, Harleton 
Winslow ; Nov. 1, Moses Hoyt, William K. Black ; Dec. 10, 
Samuel Aunn, Stephen B. Stearns. 1823 — Jan. 20, Benjamin 
Searl, Peter Rumley ; March 24, Abiatha Whitmarsh ; April 
21, Noel Thurber; May 19, George Peacock, Horace Luce; 
June 23, Nathaniel G. Millard, Jeremiah Brown ; July 21, 
Harley Doolittle ; Nov. 17, Joseph Butler ; Dec. 16, John 
Allen, Orasmus M. Stillman, Edwin Adams. 182 i — Jan 12, 
Lorenzo Gi'aham; Feb. 9, Benjamin Andrews, Ransom Cur- 
tiss; March 15, Noah E. King, Samuel Farwell ; May 10, 
Nijah Hotchkiss; June 7, William Knight, Joseph Mix; 



198 HISTORY OF THE TOWN" OF PARIS. 

July 5, George W. Mosher ; Sept. 11, Henry W. Adams, Syl- 
vester Wadsworth ; Nov. 2, Philip Smith ; Dec. 6, Rev. A. S; 
HoUister, David Beckwith. 1825— Jan. 3, George Allen;. 
Feb. 28, Samuel Haley, S. Gookins, Ezekiel Hawley ; March 
28, Ralph Lake, Samuel Hale ; Oct. 24, Isaac Scofield. 1826- 
— Feb. 20, George Mix; March 20, John C. Davidson, Ezra 
Chapman, Simeon Rogers; Sept. 11, Edwin G.Dickinson; 
Nov. 13, Joseph Brownell. 1827 — Feb. 3, Thomas Goodier; 
October 1, David Seaton. 1829— Feb. 16, Benjamin F. 
Eastman. 

The Lodge first held its meetings in the chamber over the 
store of Hobart Graves, (now Truman's wagon shop,) at East 
Sauquoit. Dec. 30, 1822, it was removed to the hall of 
Cyrus Chatfield, (the old Savage stand,) at West Sauquoit, 
In the spring of 1829 it was moved back to East Sauquoit 
into the select school room in the chamber of the District 
School House No. 9, east of the Methodist Church. Old 
Paris Lodge, No. 348, shared the fate of many others, and 
fell a victim to the Morgan excitement, and met for the last 
time December 30, 1833, soon after which it surrendered its 
charter, but at the earnest appeal of Worshipful William 
Knight, he was permitted by the Grand Lodge to retain the 
register of proceedings and the jewels of solid silver, which 
he carefully preserved for more than fifteen years, and trans- 
mitted them to Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150. They are now 
treasured highlv by that Lodge as venerated relics. There 
survive of old Paris Lodge, No. 348, residing here, the 
venerable Dr. Bishop and Solomon Rogers; Henry W. Adams,, 
of Lenox, Madison county; Ransom Curtis, of Hillsdale, 
Mich.; Edwin Webster, of Kansas, and Simeon Rogers, of 
Fleming, Ca3'uga county. The Lodge celebrated St. John's 
Day, December 27, 1826, with imposing ceremonies. Rev. 
A. S. Hollister, then Rector of St. Paul's Church at Paris 
' Hill, who joined the Lodge in December, 1824, delivered the 
address in the Presbyterian Church at Weso Sauquoit, after 
which the members and their wives and sweethearts repaired 
to the hotel of Cyrus Chatfield, opposite, and sat down to an 
old-time feast. The occasion was long remembered. Hon. 
Uri Doolittle, then Master, 'Squire Asahel Curtis and Cap- 
tain William Knight constituted the Committee of Arrange- 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 199 

meut. April 28, 1828, a committee was named to investi- 
gate the expense of buildintj a hall of either wood or stone. 
At the next meeting. May 2-ith, 1828. the committee reported, 
and Major William Geere was appointed to circulate a sub- 
scription. " Man proposes but God disposes." The tidal 
wave of the Morgan affair reached here about that time, and 
swept into oblivion all hopes of a Masonic Hall, or the con-' 
tiuuance of the Lodge even. 

Dr. Spaulding Pierce, the Urst Junior Warden of the 
Lodge, was made a Mason in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, in 
1801, and was the pioneer physician of the valley. Born in 
Plainfield, Ct., February 29, 1768, receiving his education at 
the Plainfield Academy, he then studied medicine with his 
uncle, Dr. Isaac Knight, and after finishing his studies re- 
moved to Vermont, where he was appointed Surgeon's Mate 
of the 4th Regiment, 5th Brigade, on the 30th of June, 1794', 
by commission from Thomas Crittenden, " Captain General 
Governor and Cornmander-in-CJhief " of Vermont. 

In the fall of 1797, while in the city of New York purchas- 
ing medicines, he formed the acquaintance of Dr. Sampson, 
the second physician of Paris Hill, there on a similar errand, 
who induced him to go back with him to Paris. They accord- 
ingly took their way on horseback to the " Far West," in due 
time arriving at Paris Hill, via the old trail, opened up by a 
detachment of General Sullivan's army, through Bridgewater 
and Cassville. He became the guest of old Dr. Sampson, who 
soon after accompanied him to Sau(|Uoit, where he introduced 
him. Boarding at the hotel of Captain Bacon, he formed an 
' atiachment for his daughter Nabby, to whom he was married 
April 18th, 1799. He practiced here till his death, riding 
through the forest, guided by trails and blazed trees, and after- 
wards-rude un worked roads cut out through the woods, endu- 
ring the hardships of pioneer life while the village grew up 
around him. He purchased five acres of land of Captain Ba- 
con, a little west of the Savage stand, and thereon built his 
house, (the present residence of E. D. Brownell;. He was a 
skillful physician and beloved by all. While on a visit to 
Rodman, Jefferson county, and about to start for home, with 
cloak and wrappings on, he paused a moment to warm his 
feet and say good-bye. A fatal pause 1 A last good-bye ! 



200 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Almost instantly his great heart ceased to beat, and he fell 
dead without a struggle, February 14th, 1827, lacking a few 
days of 60 years of age. He was brought home and buried 
with Masonic honors, being the first Masonic burial in the 
valley. His sou, William L. Pierce alone survives him here, 
who is also the only survivor of the Bacon family. Two other 
sons survive elsewhere, Sylvester P. Pierce, of Syracuse, and 
John S. Pierce, of Phoenix, Oswego county, N. Y. 

The last representative of old Paris Lodge to the Grand 
Lodge, was 'Squire Ezra S. Cozier, of Utica, whom they ap- 
pointed as their prox^^ at the session held the June previous 
to his untimely death by cholera in 1832. 

SAUQUOIT LODGE, NO. 150, F. AND A. M., 

was chartered June 21st, A. L. 5849, and afterward incorpo- 
rated under a general act of the Legislature passed April 21, 
1866. September 17th, A. L. 5849, (A. D. 1849,) the follow- 
ing officers were duly installed by R. W. Ezra S. Barnum, 
Senior Grand Warden, assisted by Philemon Lyon, A. S. Or- 
cutt, J. M. Hatch, G. Mather, F. J. Clark, Burton Hawley, H. 
F. Morey and Ira Chase, viz. : 

Naaman W. Moore, Master, died March 16, 1874; Hon. 
William Knight, S. W., died February 22, 1875 ; Calvin E. 
Macomber, J. W. ; Abner Brownell, Treasurer, died December 
30, 1875; David Seaton, Secretary, died November 18, 1866 ; 
Leverett Bishop, M. D., S. D. ; David Loring, J. D., died Sep- 
tember 3, 1850 ; Uri Doolittle, Jr., Zachariah P. Townsend, 
Stewards, died, the former in 1853, and the latter October 28, 
1874; Ezekiel Hanley, Tiler, died June 10, 1855; Benjamin 
Bentley, died May 15, 1854. 

WORK OF THE LODGE. 



Master. 


Time of Service. 


Members admitted. 


N. W. Moore, 


1 Yr. 


7 


Hon. Wm. Knight, 


10 " 


117 


C. E. Macomber, 


1 " 


1 


Ansel Tyler, M. D. 


2 " 


13 


Eli C. Green, 


2 " 


7 


Isaac J. Doolittle, 


1 " 


4 


Henry C. Rogers, 


5 " 


62 


Levi Mason, 


2 " 


14 


•Seth W. Smith, 


3 " 


16 


J. S. Parker, 


3 " 


14 



EAELY MASONIC HISTORY. 



201 



Total admitted, 255 

Charter members, 11 

Total, 266 

Surviving Past-Masters. — Calvin E. Macomber, Eli C 
Green, Henry C. Rogers, Levi Mason, Seth W. Smith, Josiah 
S. Parker. 



LIST OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF SAUQUOIT LODGE, NO. 150, 
FROM ITS ORGANIZATION. 

J. Warden. 

C. E. Macomber. 
C. E. Macomber. 
L. Bishop. 
J. H. Gray. 
E. C. Green. 
P. R. Miner. 
E. S. Green. 
L. F. Rykman. 
I. T. Doolittle. 
L. F. Rykman, 
A. Tylei-. 
R. E. Kaple. 
R. E. Kaple. 
R. E. Kaple. 
H. P. Plumb. 
C. G. Brownell. 
H. W. Wilcox. 
C. H. Moore. 
L. Mason. 
J. Parker. 
J. Parker. 
S. W. Smith. 

A. S. Austin. 

E. Jones. 

F. J. Criggier. 
C. H. Blackstoue. 

B. E. Forbes. 
B. E. Forbe.s. 
Chas. L. Marshall. 
Chas. L. Marshall. 
B. F. Willoughby. 
David H. Morgan. 





Master. 


S. Warden. 


18-t9. 


N. W. Moore, 


William Knight, 


1850 


N. W. Moore, 


William Knight, 


1851. 


William Knight, 


C. E. Macomber, 


1852. 


William Knight, 


C. E. Macomber, 


1853. 


C. E. Macomber, 


A. Tyler, 


1854. 


A. Tyler, 


E. C. Green, 


1855. 


A. Tyler, 


E. C. Green, 


1856. 


E. C. Green, 


E. S. Green, 


1857. 


William Knight, 


A. Tyler, 


1858. 


William Knight, 


E. C. Green, 


1859. 


E. C. Green, 


I. T. Doolitcle, 


1860. 


I. T. Doolittle, 


A. S. Hull. 


1861. 


William Knight, 


A. S. Hull, 


1862. 


William Knight, 


A. S. Hull, 


1863. 


William Knight, 


A. S. Hull, 


1864. 


William Knight, 


A. S. Hull, 


1865. 


William Knight, 


E. C. Green, 


1866. 


William Knight, 


H. C. Rogers, 


1867. 


H. C. Rogers, 


G. W. Burt, 


1868. 


H. C. Rogers, 


L. Mason, 


1869. 


H. C. Rogers, 


L. Mason, 


1870. 


L. Mason, 


J. Parker, 


1871. 


L. Mason, 


S. W. Smith, 


1872. 


H. C. Rogers, 


S. W. Smith, 


1873. 


H. C. Rogers, 


S. W. Smith, 


1874. 


S. W. Smith, 


F. J. Crigur, 


1875. 


S. W. Smith, 


Josiah S. Parker, 


1876. 


S. W. Smith, 


Josiah S. Parker, 


1877. 


Josiah S. Parker, 


, B. E. Forbes, 


1878. 


Josiah S. Parker, 


, B. E. Forbes, 


1879. 


Josiah S. Parker, 


, Chas. L. Marshall 


1880. 


Chas. L. Marshall, B. F. Willoughby, 



202 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS, 

LIST OF MEMBERS OTHER THAN CHARTER MEMBERS, 
WITH DATE OF ADMISSION. 

1850 — Jan. 7, Augustus L. White ; July 15, Robert Nutall ; 
23, Benjamin Moore, Henry B. Thomas, (died Feb. 14, 1867,) 
E. D. Brownell; Nov. 8, R. E. Kaple ; Dec. 2, C. Leander 
Marshall, (died July 3, 1876.) 

1851 — Feb. 3, Dexter Grossman, L. F. Ryckman, (died June 
27, 1872,) Ansel Tyler, M. D., (died Feb. 2, 1866 ;) 17, James 
L. Davis, (died Feb. 11, 1874;) March 3, Joseph H. Gray; 
May 19, John G. Paddock, William A. Hilliard, (dead;) July 
7, Nathan G. Green, (honorary member;) Sept. 1, Charles R. 
Birdsall, (dead;) Oct. 6, Augustus S. Hull, (died Oct. 8, 1877.) 

1852— Feb. 16, Paul R. Miner; March 1, William L. Mould, 
(died Nov. 23,1864;) May 17, Alvin P. Lanterman ; July 19, 
Eli G. Green ; Aug. 16, Samuel F. Dexter, (honorary member.) 

1853 — Dec. 5, Edwin Webster, (honorary member.) 

1854 — Jan. 16, Ridley Gole, Nehemiah Ma.son, (died July 

20, 1856 ;) Feb. 20, W. Irving Tillotson ; May 1, Eri S. Green,.; 
(dead ;j Dec. 18, Charles E. Luce. 

1855 — May 21, Horace Plumb; Sept. 3, Prof. Ambrose P.. 
Kelsey; 17, Grove W. Bagg, Hon. Justus Childs, (died May 
24, 1868,) Isaac T. Doolittle, (died Nov. 24, 1864,) C. O. Allen, 
R. W. Miller; Oct. 15, Robert W. Seaton. 

1856— March 20, T. P. Davenport; April 7, Robert Dare; 

21, Henry C. Rogers ; Aug. 4, E. H. Joslyn ; Sept. 1, Andrew- 
Boss. 

1857— Feb. 16, W. E. Moore. 

1858— Feb. 15, B. S. RadclifFe ; April 19, George P. Olm- 
stead; Oct. 18, Dodge P. Blackstone, J. B. Kendall; Nov. 1,. 
Levo L. LeRoy. 

1859- Oct. 3, James Grendlay ; Nov. 7, Frank Hinckley. 

1860— Jan. 16, F. M. Knight; March 6, L. M. Joslyn; May 
7, H. P. Plumb; Dec. 17, Solomon Rogers, (honorary member.) 

1861— Feb. 4. James S. Kendall, (died Feb. 1, 1871 ;) April 
6, George W. Corbin, (died, 1863;) Dec. 16, Charles A. 
Parker. 

1862 — P'eb. 17, Z. Towusend Wilcox, Peleg Goodier; Aug. 
18, E. A. Cole, H. H. Jtmkins; Sept. 8, James Eastman; 22, 
John Reehl; Oct. 6, George W. Burt, John Pringle; 20, Ed- 
mund Howard, George Helm. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 203~ 

1863 — March 30, Alexander Van Valkenbero-; May -i, 
David C. Addington, Charles D. Prior; June 1, Levi Mason; 
Hon. William H. Chapman, (dead ;) 15, Charles Hoofcut, Hon. 
D. W. Prescott; July G, Henry Whitacre, E. Gumming; Sept. 
21, Horace M. Rogers, Charles G. Brownell ; Dec. 14, Henry 
W. Wilcox, Benjamin R. Wilcox; 21, M. D. Lapham. 

18G-t— Jan. 23, L. A. Seymour, Levi Patterson, (died Dec. 
5, 1868,) D. W. Larrabee, (dead ;) 26, Joseph Buckle ; Feb. 
15, Edmund C.Goodrich; 27, Josiah Parker, Thomas Lord> 
J. W. Knause; March 26, Hubert M. Rouse, John L. Wicks; 
April 30, Oliver G. Rogers, (died Nov. 2, 1866.) Lewis Rogers ;. 
May 28, Charles H. Moore, William Neal, (dead ;) July 23, 
N.'S. Hayes, George W. Nichols; August 29, Thomas 
Murphy; Sept. 19, W. H. Griffith, Douglass M. Thorn; Oct. 

8, Rodney E. Wilcox, John H. Crane; 15, Harrison E. Web- 
ster; Nov. 26, Horace A. Marshall, (dead ;) Dec. 10, Morris W. 
Dyer. 

1865— Jan. 14, Samuel Robbins ; Feb. 11, Frederick Scovill, 
Daniel A. Comstock ; 27, Michael Weigle, Seth W. Smith ;. 
March 11, F. D. Blackstone, Edward Miller, Charles H. Black- 
.stone; April 22, T. W. Blackstone, G. N. Schoonmaker; June 
10, Thomas Harris; July 1, Charles Hardiman, (died Sept. 10, 
1873,) George Mould; August 5, Albert M. Mills, Henry N. 
Adams, Samuel Francis, J. T. Perkins; Sept. 23, Richard 
Lewis; Nov. 25, A. P. Mallory; Dec. 13, B. F. Wright. 

18(36— Jan. 13, Adolph Miller, G. W. Warren ; Feb. 24, Wm. 
F. S. Irvin, Edward H. Dean ; March 24,Hervey Piatt; June 

9, W. Wallace Chapman ; 23, F. G. Hitsworth, Charles T- 
Denning; August 11, Adolph Wilman, Albert Owens, J. G. 
Leefe; Sept. 22, A. H. Mason, (died Feb. 15, 1868,) John 
Miller, Joseph Brownell, fdied Aug. 20, 1873,) Hugh Sloan, 
M. D. ; Nov. 10, Horace L. Kirtland, George A. Hubbard, 
George P. Landt; Dec. 22, Charles B. Manchester, E. A. 
Capell, W. W. Bailey, Isaac Dingman, Robeit Bailey ; 8, C. N 
Palmer, M. D., L. T. Richardson. 

1867— March 30, L. L. Williams, Charles H. Cooper, John 
B. Warner ; Oct. 26, Wessel H. Slover, Francis J. Criggier ; 
Nov. 16, Henry R. Gay lord, Thomas C. Denniston. 

1868— Jan. 11, G. F. Wilcox, J. B. Young, G R. Carpenter; 
Feb. 8, Daniel W. Maltby, Eugene J. Warren, J. A. Moore; 



204 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

March 28, Albert S. Austin, Henry Loyd, James Hardman ; 
May 9, Thomas Lee, Albert E. Winnegar, John Dagleish, E. E. 
Knickerbocker, D. A. Rowland ; June 29, John E. Sawyer, 
Augustus H. Davis, Caleb B. Germond. 

1869— Jan. 9, Jacob P. Calhoun ; Feb. 27, Wm. H. Gove, 
Geo. M. Austin, John Radclift'; May 8, Charles Covbett, John 
B. Orendorf ; Nov. 27, William Weir, Or.son N. Olmstead, 
Jas. H. Ratclitf, (died Feb. 24, 1879,) Levi S. Montgomery, 
William Prentice, Giles Howarth. 

1870 — Jan 22, Ellis Jones, H. N. Shepardson ; April 9, 
Charles W. Bowen, W. J. Lockhart; May 14, Peter Watt; 
July 9, Otis P. Coye, John C. Briggs; Nov. 12, Gustavus A. 
Gifford, M. D. ; Dec. 10, R. D. Richards. 

1871— July 1, Wm. H. Giles; Aug. 26, Horace T. Farey, 
■Stephen Gunston, Amasa Mason, (died Oct. 17, 1873.) 

1872 — Jan. 13, F. H. Saxton, James Benbow, Wm. A. Bas- 
sett, (died April 7, 1879 ;) 27, Hobart Osborn, Frederick A 
Aldrich, (died March 2, 1876;) March 9, William S. Spafford; 
May 12, William H. Criggier, James Russell, J. Harvey Reeves, 
Wayne W. Thurston; James Campbell, (died Dec. 8, 1875;) 
-Nov. 8, David H. Morgan, Henry Adelbert Head, Albert Bar- 
nett, Esq., (honorary member.) 

1873— Feb. 8, B. E. Forbes, M. D., Ambrose S. Harvey, (died 
June 27, 1874,) Arthur C. Paddock, Frederick G. Talbott; 
April 26, James O. Hasselkuse ; June 14, George I. Goodale, 
Daniel Morris; Sept. 27, N. W. Moore, Jr., Charles N. Garlick, 
J. B. Holmes, Orville Bennett, John McGucken. 

1874— Jan. 10, William Shackelton ; Feb. 28, William H. 
Calhoun, Ansel Thompson, Albert R. Haven ; Oct. 10, Charles 
L. Marshall, R. J. Benbow. 

1875— Feb. 13, John R. Jones; June 30, S. C. Reiley ; Sept. 
25, John S. Reiley; Nov. 27, John T. Bastow, Geo. D. Smith. 

1876— Jan. 22, John L. Smith ; March 28, Stephen Wood- 
hull, Thomas Reiley; Oct. 14, N. M. Worden, John Shepard. 

1877 — Feb. 10, John Crawshaw; 24, Reuben Horrocks. 

1878 — Jan. 25, Henry Barton ; March 9, Rev. Clarence H. 
Beebe ; April 10, H. W. Teachout ; May 25, Rev. B. F. Will- 
oughby; Sept. 28, Edward B. Avery. 

1879— Jan. 11, John B. Gough ; May 10. H. W. Goodier; 
June 14, Prof. T. H. Roberts ; July 12, George W. Penner, 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 205. 

Charles L. Seamau ; Sept. 13, Frank A. Randall ; 27, Samuel 
Clayton. 

Veteran Members — Bein^ a list of those eligible to the 
" Veteran Masonic Society," their Masonic age being 21 years 
or more : P. M. Calvin E. Macomber, honoiary and charter 
member Fredonia Lodge, admitted 1816; Leverett Bishop, 
M. D., honorary and charter member Chittenango Lodtre, ad- 
mitted 1817; 'Squire Albert Barnett, honorary member Dela- 
ware Lodge, 1816 ; Solomon Rogers, honorary member of old 
Amicable Lodge, 25, admitted 1822; Edwin Webster, hono- 
rary member Paris Lodge, 348, admitted 1822; Nathan C. 
Green, honorary member Sauquoit Lodge, 1-50, admitted 1851 ; 
Rev. Samuel F. Dexter, honorary member Sauquoit Lodge, 
150, admitted 1852 , Btnjamin Moore, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, 
admitted 1850; E. Dean Brownell, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, 
admitted 1850 ; Dexter Grossman, Sauquoit Lodo-e, 150, 
admitted 1851 ; W. Irving Tillotston, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, 
admitted 1854; Chailes E. Luce, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, ad- 
mitted 1854; Grove W. Bagg, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, admitted 
1855 ; Henry C. Rogers, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, admitted 1856 ; 
Wilbur E. Moore, Sauquoit Lodge, 150, admitted 1857. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Original charter members, . . . .11 

Since admitted, ..... 255 



266 



Total, ...... 

Honorary members, (also charter,) . . .2 

Honorary members, .... 5 

Deceased charter members, . . . . 9 

Deceased other members, ... 30 

Withdrawn, lemoved, &c., .... 113 

Surviving active members, . . . 107 

266 

Hon. William Knight, during the unfortunate rupture of 
the Grand Lodge, which resulted in there being at one time 
two Grand Lodges in the State, took an active pai't in the 
reconciliation, and to his efforts, perhaps, more than any 
other single individual, the union was happily effected. As a 
recognition of his services he was appointed in 1862-3, one 



206 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of the Grand Stewards of the Grand Lodge. In 1867, H. C. 
Rogers received the appointment of Assistant Grand Lecturer 
for the Fifth Judicial District, composed of the counties of 
Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Herkimer, Jefferson and Lewis, 
and was reappointed in 1868. Those Brothers comprise the 
Grand Lodge officers from Paris. 



Office of the Grand Secretary ) 

Op the Grand Lodge op F. & A. Masons of the State op New York, l 

New York, Qjtober 28. 1872. ) 

W. Henry C. Rogers, 

Dear Sir and Brother : — Pursuant to a provision of the 
resokitions adopted by the Grand Lodge, referring the Pro- 
posed Aviended Gonstitiition to a committee of one from each 
of the Masonic Districts, the Grand Master has called a meet- 
ino- of the said committee, to be held in " Central City- 
Masonic Hall," in the city of Syracuse, on Tuesday, Novem- 
ber 19th, prox., at 9 o'clock A. M., [the day was afterward 
changed to second Tuesday of December,] for the purpose of 
considering the matter so referred. You have been duly 
elected from the 14th Masonic District (Oneida and Madison 
counties,) as a member of said committee, and you are hereby 
notified to attend at the time and place above designated. 

Given under ray hand and the seal of Grand Lodge, 
[l. s.] this 28th day of October, 1872. 

James M. Austin, 

Grand Secretary, 

The Convention met pursuant to the call, and all the Dis- 
tricts were represented except the 17th and 23d : 

1, J. E. Morrison ; 2, G. B. Wood ; 3, William T. Woodruff: 
4, Joseph Short, Jr. ; 5, John W. Russell ; 6, O. D. M. Parker; 
7, G. Fred Wiltsie ; 8, James McCausland ; 9, Jesse B. 
Anthony ; 10, James Gibson ; 11, George Yost ; 12, George B. 
Winslow ; 13, Henry A. House; 14, Henry C. Rogers; 15, 
John R. Clarke; 16, George J. Gardner; 18, John L. Lewis; 
19, William Shelp; 20, L. A. Waldo; 21, John Ransom; 22 
David F. Day ; 24, Caleb B. Ellsworth ; 25, James M. Austin ; 
26, H. C. Sawtelle. French, &;c., John W. Simons ; German 
Lodge, Charles Sackreuter. 

The result of their deliberations was adopted b}^ the next 
Grand Lodge and is the present Constitution of the Grand 
Lodge of the State of New York. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 207 

UNION HALL ASSOCIATION. 

In the year 1840 Union Hall Association erected the build- 
ing- at West San([U()it now owned and occupied by Sauquoit 
Lodge, No. 150. At the completion of the building, the Odd 
Fellows leased the Lodge room of the Association and sub-let 
it to the Masons, each society arranging to meet on different 
evenings. In the fall of 1866, the building being sadly in need of 
repairs, Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, resolved to undertake to buy 
up the capital stock of the Union Hall As.sociation and put the 
building in suitable repair. Subscription papers were drawn 
up October 13th, 1866. N. W. Moore headed the subscription 
$250; Abner Brownell, E. D. Brownell, C. G. Brownell, $250 ; 
H. C. Rogers, $50 ; M. M. Neal, $30 ; C. L. Marshall, $20 ; Lewis 
Rogers, $20; (all in stock of Union Hall;) and others $10; 
and so on down the list, at Saucjuoit, amounting to $695; 
Paris Hill, $38 ; Clayville $28, East Hill $25, and Washington 
Mills $56. The payment of the latter was not insisted on, as 
the brothers at that place soon after withdrew to found Ami- 
cable Lodge, and needed that money to fit up their new lodge. 
August 29, 1868, upon the completion of the railroad, a picnic, 
for the benefit of this fund, was held in the beautiful grove 
east of the paper mill, which was lai'gely attended ; many 
coming from Sherburne, Hamilton, Earlville, Waterville, Win- 
field and Utica, as well as the neighboring villaofe.s. It proved 
a success, yielding a good revenue. The ]iicnic was repeated 
the following year, August 18, 1869, with still better success, 
followed by a festival at the hall December 24, 1869, and with 
continued united effort in the right direction the hall has been 
painted, repaired and beautifully decorated, and is now the 
property of Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, deeded to its Trustees 
by the Trustees of Union Hall Association December 27, 1873, 
for a consideration of $1,750, duly recorded in the County 
Clerk's Office, in book 371 of deeds, page 419. 

THE ANTI-MASON EXCITEMENT OF 1826. 

William Morgan was born in Culpepper County, Va., in 
1775 or '76, and was a mason by trade. In 1821 he removed 
to Upper Canada, near York, and established a brewery,which 
in time burned down and impoverished him, when he removed 



208 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

to Rochester, N. Y., and resumed his trade of mason, and soon 
after to Batavia, where he likewise worked at his trade. In 
the year 1826 it leaked out that Morgan, who bore a worth- 
less reputation, was preparing a book to be published by 
David C. Miller, disclosing the secrets of Free Masonry. 
Great excitement prevailed, and an effort was made to get 
hold of the manuscript, but to no avail. Moi-gan, however, 
was thrown into jail at Canandaigua, some 50 miles east of 
Batavia, for debt, September 10, 1826. The next evening, 
soon after dusk, a man by the name of Lawson called to see 
him, which he was permitted to do by the keeper. Lawson 
proposed to pay the debt (a small one) and thus release Mor- 
gan, to which all parties consenting, they passed out of the 
jail together into the darkness of night, and while on the way 
to Lawson's house, he was seized, torn away from Lawson 
and thrust into a carriage, which was rapidly whirled awa}''. 
The route of a carriage, supposed to be this one, was after- 
wards rumored to be, Victor, thence to Rochester.where the car- 
riage and horses were changed, and dri\en to Oarkson, fifteen 
miles west, then to Gaines, and sometime in the night of Sep- 
tember 13, arrived at Lewiston, sevent}' miles westerly from 
Rochester, but this could not be proven in the court. It was 
asserted that Morgan was confined in the old magazine of the 
fort and at night taken across the river in an open boat, but 
the Canada Masons refusing to receive him, the party returned, 
and Morgan was again confined. Be this as it may, his fate 
is shrouded in mystery from the moment he was parted from 
Lawson at Canandaigua. Some years since, a gentleman who 
was intimately acquainted with Morgan, published a state- 
ment that while traveling in India he met him in Calcutta, 
and although bronzed and decked out in the Indian toggery 
of a high dignitary there, he was positive of the identification, 
although Morgan would not identify him. Others supposed 
that Morgan was drowned in Lake Ontario, and a body wash- 
ing ashore sometime afterwards gave color to that supposition, 
until upon examination the body proved to be that of another 
person. Yet the Anti- Masons still circulated the story, after 
it was legally exploded, and declared that the body was a 
" good enough Morgan until after election," the opponents to 
Masonry having merged into a violent political party. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 209 

Gov. De Witt Cliutou — the Grand Master of Masons — in 
his capacity of Governor, issued a procUiniation in regard to 
the kidnapping, dated October 26, 1826, offering "a reward 
of $300 for the discovery of the offenders, $100 for any and 
every one of them, and $200 for authentic information of the 
place where the said William Morgan has been conveyed." 
It was plain to all candid minds that the Grand Lodge or the 
subordinate lodges, or the great body of Masonry throughout 
the State were in no way responsible for the abduction, it 
being the act and crime of a few ill-advised, ovei'-zealous indi- 
viduals alone ; but in those days, no telegraph existed to flash 
the news to every corner of the State ; no daily papers in all 
her cities to publish at once all the details ; no railroads to 
beai- those papers to every village, that the succeeding day 
everybody, every whei-e throughout this great Commonwealth, 
could know and understand all the circumstances of the case. 
Had it been so, the news would simply have been read, and 
the wish engendered chat the offenders might be speedily 
captured and brought to justice. But in the days of stage- 
coaches and weekly papers, few and far between, the news 
spread slowly and by piecemeal, gaining in horrible details as 
it was repeated, until at last, "boomed" on by the politicians, 
the wildest excitement prevailed, and was kept alive for sev- 
eral years, the country lodges stemming the tide for a while, 
hut eventually being forced to go down and surrender their 
charters. The matter finally drifted out of politics, and died 
awa}^ in 1832 or '33, and few are left that remember that 
fierce warfare, and the intense personal feuds engendered 
thereby in each neighborhood, and none of this generation 
can fully realize the possibility of the storm of passion and 
prejudice that swept with the besom of destruction to ruin 
the great institution of Masonry, and left her lodges wrecked 
and stranded in almost every village. The sober second 
thought, however, came at last, the rising generation viewed 
the matter intelligently, without prejudice, and the reaction 
set in, and to-day in this State more than eighty thousand 
Masons, numbering in their ranks the greatest and best men 
any State can boast of, assemble around her altar, and with 
"heart and tongue join in promoting each other's welfare, and 
N 



210 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

rejoice in each other's prosperity." The dream of those old-^ 
time veteran Masons of Paris Lodge for a " hall of wood or 
stone," has been more than realized in the present well- 
appointed building and beautiful lodge-room. Those two 
pioneer manufacturers, Bros. N. W. Moore and Abner Brown- 
ell, who, out of their abundance so liberally contributed to 
this result, are no more here to share and enjoy its beauties. 
The extensive factory and paper mills, once their pride, and 
the wealth of the valley, are silent, or in ruins. The beau- 
tiful creek which, obedient to their skill and energy, was 
yoked into power, turning the mighty machinery and the 
thousands of humming spindles, furnishing employment to hun- 
dreds of workmen, and infusing business vitality into this once 
active village, now untrararaeled, bubbles dancingly by the 
Valley Cemetery, where both silently sleep; thence aimlessly 
along past the deserted paper mills and on down, reflecting on 
its rippling bosom the gaunt spectre of the ruins of the dis- 
mantled, fire blackened walls of the once busy factory, and on 
to the sea. Their good deeds, however, live after them. Gen- 
eration succeeding generation, who shall assemble within 
these hallowed walls in peace and unity, as they " meet upon 
the Level, and part upon the Square," will ever treasure deep, 
emotions of gratitude for their munificent generosity. 

AMICABLE LODGE, NO. 664, F. & A. M., OF WASHINGTON MILLS. 

Having worked one j'ear under dispen.sation from the Most 
Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of New York, on the 
11th day of May, 1868, before W. Henry C. Rogers, Assistant 
Grand Lecturer for the Fifth Judicial District, Amicable 
Lodge exemplified the work and lectures, whereupon W. Bro. 
Borers granted them the otiiciai certificate of suitable profi- 
ciency, to enable them to be chartered. June 15, 1868, a 
charter was granted to them by the M. W. Grand Lodge of 
the State of New York. The first regular communication 
under the charter, was held on the 18th day of July, 1868. 

FIRST OFFICERS. 

J. T. Perkins, M. ; H. N. Adams, S. W. ; Albert Owens. J. 
W. ; George Helm, Treas. ; George E. Eastman, Secretary; C. 
H. Moore, S. D.; Robert Codlin, J. D. (1867, Amicable, U.D.;) 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 211 

W. F. S. Irwiu, Chaplain; L. H. Van Allen, (1867, Amicable, 
U. D.,) D wight Den io, (Otsego,) M. of C's ; J. Quackeubush] 
Tiler, (18(37, Amicable, U. D.) 

CHARTER MEMBERS IN ADDITION, 

A. P. Malloiy, Henry Whitacer, H. L. Kirtland, George P. 
Landt, Michael Weigle, Isaac Dingman, Hon. W. H. Chap- 
man, (died Aug. 21, 1876,) John Pringle, L. D. N. Mason, J. 
B. Warnes, Robert Bailey, Hugh Sloan, M. D. ; T. W. Blacks 
stone, E. Cnmmings, W. W. Chapman, Hon. D. M. Prescott, 
William H. Griffith, F. D. Blackstone, Horace Plumb, (1855,) 
E. H. Dean, G. G. Denning, N. S. Hayes, John Miller, R. A. 
Smith, A. M. Mills — Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150. 

Total officers and members from Sauquoit Lodge, 32. 

Charles Eberle, M. C. Blackstone, Hon. Geo. W. Chadwiek, 
Oriental Lodge, No. 224; C. B. Manchester, Isaac Brayton, 
Utica Lodge, No. 47; Edwin R. Polly, Philanthropic Lodge, 
No. 164; E. W. Denio, E. C. Denio, Otsego Lodge. 

SINCE ADMITTED. 

1867— W. G. Perkins, George Hinchliff, David Hughes, J. 
D. Green, Uriah D. King, H. L. Babcock. 

1868— G. R. Wadsworth, J. A. Rice, William Cone, H. Kel- 
logg. A. A. Rogers, Marshall Sackett, Thomas Lewis, Reuben 
Weeder, John Marks, John Murphy. 

1869 — Samuel Patterson, George F. Merrill, L. E. Rogers 
(died June 25, 1877;) James Wood, Thomas Monroe, Charles 
Greenwood. 

1870 — H. O. ^Adams, Thomas Adams, Richard Manning, 
George Wood, J. W. Norton. 

1871 — Henry Barton, John Thompson, William H. Kelly, 
D. P. Root. 

1872 — J. E. Dempsey, J. B. Winship, Thomas W. Moore 
Henry Dodge, William Farrill, E. Jacquemer, Joseph Sault. 

1874— John D. Thickens, M. O. Dingman, M. M. Gaylord, O. 
N. Olmstead, George W. Shu maker, (died March 1, 1879,) 
U. J. Mathews. 

1875— C. O. Millard, E. S. Snow, J. W. Cook, John Benton 
Robert R. Gibbs, N. A. Cook, C. H. Dodge, Henry Page, C. H' 
Philo, J. Lighbody, Hon. R. U. Sherman, J. L. Comstock, P] 
L Tyler, C. F. Lee, W. Johnson. 



212 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

1876 — W. D. Van valken berg, Daniel Richards, L. E. Moore, 
J. S. Knapp, E. W. Hurty, J. W. Seaton, A. J. Bullock, (died 
August, 1878.) 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total Members, . . • • .111 

Withdrawn, fcc, .... 26 

Dead, ...... 4 

— 30 

Present Membership, . . . 81 

Petitioning Members. M). 

MASTERS. 

1867-8, J. T. Perkins; 1869-73, H. N. Adams; 1870-77- 
78, C. H. Moore ; 1871-2, M. C. Blackstone ; 1874--75, T. W. 
Blackstone ; 1876, H. L. Babcock ; 1879-80, C. H. Dodge. 

Amicable Lodge, No. 664, the younge.st of the valley 
lodsfes, enters the second decade of its existence with flatter- 
ing pi'ospects. The signs of the times give promise of a 
general revival of business, and the recent starting up of the 
Washington Mills Woolen Factory inaugurates prosperity, 
and without doubt, New xlmicabie can celebrate the Centen- 
nial Anniversary' of Old Amicable, on April 7, 1892, — twelve 
years hence — with full ranks, harmonious membership and 
prosperous treasur3^ 

Rev. Mr. Magill, rector of St. Paul's Church, Peru, 111., 
being asked by a lad}-, the question, " x\re you a Mason ?" re- 
sponded in the following beautiful lines : 

I am one of a band 

Who will faithfully stand 
In the bonds of affection and love; 

1 have knocked at the door, 

Once wretched and poor, 
And there for admission I stood. 

By the help of a friend, 

Who assistance di I i lend, 
I succeeded an entrance to gain; 

Was received in the West, 

By command from the East, 
But not without feeling some pain. 

Here my conscience was taught 

With a moral quite fraught 
With sentiment holj' and true. 

Then onward I traveled, 

To have it unraveled. 
What Hiram intended to do. 



EARLY MASONIC HISTORY. 21S 

Very soon in the East, 

I made known my request, 
And " liirht" by command did attain; 

Whenlo! I perceived, 

In due form revealed. 
A Master, a Brother, and Friend, 

Thus far I have stated, 

And simply related 
What happened when I was made free; 

But I've " passed" since then, 
And was " raised" up again 

To a sublime and ancient degree. 

Then onward I marched. 

That I might be "Arched " 
And find out those treasure? long lost. 

When behold! a bright flame, 

Fiom the midst ot wiiich came 
A voice which my ears did accost. 

Through the " vails " I then went, 

And succeeded at length 
The " sanctum sanctorum " to find; 

By the '■ signet" I gained, 

And quickly obtained, 
Employment which suited my mind. 

Id the depths I then wrought. 

And most carefully sought 
For treasures so long hidden there; 

And by labor and toil 

I discovered the spoil, 
Which is kept by the craft with due care. 

Having thus far arrived, 

I further contrived 
'Mong valiant Sir Knights to appear; 

And as pilgrim and Knight, 

I stood ready to fight. 
Nor Saracen foe did I fear. 

For the widow distressed. 

There's a chord in my breast; 
For the helpless and orphan I feel; 

And my sword I could draw, 

To maintain the pure law 
Which the duty of Masons reveal. 

Thus have I revealed, 

(Yet wisely concealed,) 
What the " Free and Accepted " well know; 

I am one of a band. 

Who will faithfully stand 
As a brother, wherever I go. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 1775-82. 

Captain John Porter, died March 5, 1804, aged 67; Captain 
Gideon Seymour, died April 6, 1804, ag;ed 63; Major Amaziah 
Royce, died July 30,1814, aged 49; Samuel Stiles, died April 
IX, 1819. aged 83; Hon. David Ostrnm, died March 17, 1821, 
aged 65 ; Lieutenant Charles Burritt, died Dec. 1, 1825, aged I 
79; Theodore Gilbert, Sr, died Aug. 11, 1826, aged 75; EU i 
Blakeslee, died Dec. 6, 1826, aged 74 ; Salmon Hecox, died I 
Aug. 1826, aged 66 ; John Draper, died June 10, 1826, aged I 
69 ; Benjamin Merrills, died Nov. 23, 1827, aged 82 ; Deacon i 
John Bailey, died Jan. 19, 1830, aged 80; Captain Kirtland I 
Griffin, died April 9, 1830, aged 78 ; Gardner Avery, Sr., died 
Dec. 27, 1831, aged 81 ; William Babbitt, died Oct. 29, 1831, 
aged 75 ; Captain Abner Bacon, died Aug. 25, 1832, aged 74 ; 
David Bishop, died April 7, 1833, aged 76 ; William Risley, died 
June 1834, aged 77 ; Captain John Strong, died March 30, 
1838, aged 79 ; Peter Selleck, died 1840, aged 84 ; Ephraim 
Walker, died July 6, 1842, aged 88 ; Asa Priest, died Feb. 9, 
1844, aged 88 ; Josiah Mosher, died Aug. 1846, aged 92 ; Cap- 
tain Uri Doolittle, died 1848, aged 86 ; Elijah Davis, died Aug. 
21, 1849, aged 85 ; 'Squire Asahel Curtiss, died May 15, 1852, 
aged 87 ; Captain Martin Nichols, died Nov. 12, 1854, aged 
104 ; Hobart Graves, died Jan. 11, 1853, aged 88 ; John Chap- 
man, died — aged 103; Deacon David Curtiss, died Aug. 12, 
1855, aged 88 ; Ensign Josiah Hull, James Barnett, Robert 
Dixson, Isaac Steadman, Ezekiel Pierce, Nathan Randall. 
Jesse Prior, Captain — Gibbs and Caleb Simmons, served 7 
years each ; Sergeant Richard Risley, of Colonel Jameson's 
dragoons, at the capture of Andre, (he named his oldest son, 
Jameson, in honor ot the gallant Colonel, under whom he 
fought;) Captain Warren was in the battle of Bunker Hill, 
with his cousin, the brave General Warren, who fell on that 
memorable and well-fought field. Captain John Mosher was 
at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. The day was in- 
tensely hot, and the heat and excessive fatigue proved fatal 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 215 

t) many. Daring the action Captiin Moiher was "melted," 
as they termed it, (sun-stroke) and canied from the field, his 
brother Josiah taking his place and leading the company. 
The attack did not prove fatal, but although he lived many 
years he never fully recovered. Of the above brave heroes* 
13 were officers, and 29 privates, a total of 42, a grand record 
for the town of Pans. David Bishop was with Washington 
in the retreat from Long Island, and Captain John Strong 
spent the winter with the Father of his Country at Valley 
Forge. James Barnett served in the Commissary Department 
during the whole period of the war. Deacon David Curtiss 
was one of the Minute Men. Ephraim Walker, the old sur- 
veyor and engineer, was at the battle of Bennington, and all 
those old Revolutionary veterans served their country in that 
time of great need, faithfully and honoi-ably, and without ad- 
equate remuneration. Among the incidents they used to 
relate when thej' chanced to meet at Uncle Jordan Gray's 
grocery and "fought their battles over again," was the joke 
peipet»ated on Elijah Davis. In following up the British in 
New Jersey, on one occasion, a scouting party, among which 
was Davis, vzas sent forward. In pa.ssing through a clump of 
woods, he halted for some purpose and the rest of the party 
proceeding out into the clearing, beside a rail fence, in short 
range from the edge of the woods, found a Britisher, stark, 
stiff, dead, shot by a preceding party. Th^y hastily stood 
him up in an ansfleof the rail fence, facing the wooils, his gun 
at his shoulder resting acioss the top lail pointing t(nvards 
the woods, in the attitude of taking aim, adroitly and firml}' 
fastening both him and his gun in the position, with the 
straps of their cartouch boxes, then secreting themselves out 
of range, but commanding a view of the woods, awaited 
events Ere long, Elijah appeared at the margin of the woods, 
and with a keen, cautious glance, disc(-)vering the 'red-coat" 
in the act of aiming, he, in true frontiersman style, "took to 
a tree," as a barricade. Putting his cap on the end of his 
ram rod, he cautiously projected it at the side of the tree, — 
•as if he was in the act of peering out — with the design of 
drawing the fire of the Britisher at the fence. The cap not 
being fired at, satisfied him that his enemy had not discovered 
h'lH hiding tree, and replacing his caj) and bringing his gun to 



216 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

his shoulder, with a quick glance along the barrel at the foe, 
aimed and fired, at the instant, again covering himself b}' his 
tree. Hastily but silently reloading, he again repeated his 
ruse of the cap, and again peered cautiously out, and there 
stood the undaunted "red-coat." Again, but with more de- 
liberation in his aim, he sent his unerring bullet (he was a 
noted marksman) at the heart of his enemy. Repeating his 
previous tactics and again cautiously looking, there firmly 
stood his man. Chagrined and out of patience with himself 
at his unaccountable bad shooting, he again blazed away, but 
with no better result than heretofore. How much longer 
he would have continued his target practice, is uncertain, Itut 
just then his companions disclosed themselves, and with shouts 
of laughter revealed the situation. While his old comrades 
in arms survived, he never heard the last of that grim joke, 
— " shooting the dead 'red-coat.' " He was born in Mansfield, 
Conn., came to Paris in 1799, and settled about one-half mile 
north of East Sauquoit, at the mouth of the glen, near where 
General Gates now resides, utilizing the spring biook that 
flows from the Glen, as a water-power for his rope- walk, where 
during his life time he made rope of various sizes, rope halters, 
cord, and fly-nets tied of cord. He was an enthusiastic Meth- 
odist and one of the first Trustees, aiid he it was that named 
the little embryo village, Bethelville, which name, much to his 
regret, was ignored when it was made a post-village and ofli- 
ciall}' named Sauquoit. He was an early "Abolitionist" and 
Emancipationist, and showed his faith in his works by man- 
umitting his only slave in 1808, (New York, at that time 
being a slave State,) as the following record on the town book 
explains : 

Paris, September 1, 1808. 

This may certify that John Frank, a negro man lately 
owned by and the lawful property of Elijah Davis, we judge 
to be about thirty-seven years of age, a man of health and 
capable of piocuring a livelihood, and approve his manumis- 
sion. (Signed,) Joseph Howard, 

Joel Bristol, • 
Overseers of the Poor. 

Martin Hawley, Town Clerk. 

He was brother to E[)hraim Davis, the pioneer of Forge and 
Fai'mers' Factory notoriety; the other brothers, David, Jona- 



ii 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 217 

than, Aaron, Asa and Noal., (the schoolmaster,) were also 
early settlers in the neighborhood; all of the last mentioned, 
however, afterwards removed to other parts of the country, 
except David. No vestige of " Uncle 'Lijah's" rope walk 
remains except a trace of the dam at the mouth of " Crane's 
gulf," as the glen used to be called, and after a Christian life 
of industry and piobity, full of years, revered by all, the old 
Revolutionary hero peacefully departed, August 21, 1849, in 
the 8.5th year ot his age. 

Captain Uri Uoolitrle, one of the early settlers near Paris 
Hill was a man of great talents, and distinguished among his 
townsmen. He was sent to the Legislature in 180(3, and 
again in 1822, and was Justice of the Peace, and also held 
various other town offices, and in early days was a merchant 
(Tompkins & Doolittle) on Paris Hill. In 1796 he was made 
a Mason in old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, uncer the Mr.ster'ship 
of Judge Sanger. Li 1799 he withdrew from old Amicable 
in conjunction with Nathan Whitney, Jonathan Barker, Jus- 
tus Tc^wer and Asahel Gridley, to found Federal Lodge, No 
80, for which they received a charter November 23. 1799 
Atthe founding of Paris Lodge, No. 848, August 14, 1822, he 
was one of the charter membejs, and the first Treasurer. In 
1828-29-30 he was Master. He was one of the founders and 
first vestrvmen oi St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church, Paris Hill, 
February 13, 1797. Full of honors, beloved by all, in the 
year 1848 the old Revolutionary veteran. Captain Uri Doolit- 
tle, at the ripe old age of 86, was " gathered to the land of his 
fathers." 

'Squire Asahel Curtiss came from good old Puritan stock. 
His grandfather, Captain Allen Curtiss, of Old Canaan, Litch- 
field county, Conn,, had four .sons, viz: Elihu, Medad, Seth 
and John, and four daughters, viz : Hannah, Chloe, Ruth and 
Ann. John, the youngest son, lived in the town of Alford, 
Berkshire county, Mass., had seven sons, viz : Solomon, Asa- 
hel, Amasa, John, Darius, Flavins J. and Libbseus. 'Squire 
Asahel Curtiss, the second son, was born September 23, 1765, 
at Old Canaan, Conn. Polly Osborn, his wife, the oldest 
daughter of Alexander Osborn, of Windsor, Conn., was born 



^! 



218 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

January 2, 1762, (she had two sisters, Jemima ami Cynthia, 
and three brothers, Seth, Alexander, Jr., and Luke} The 
children of 'Squire Curtiss were three sons and two daughters, 
viz: Charles Osborn Curtiss, born in New Canaan, Columbia 
county, N. Y., Sept. 6, 1785 ; Philo Clinton Curtiss, born in 
Old Hoosick, Rensselaer county, N. Y., June 21, 1789; John 
Curtiss, born in Granville, Washington county, N.Y., July 26, 
1793; Polly Curtiss, Aug. 13, 1794-, and Laura Curtiss, June 
28, 1801. In 1803, he moved with his family from Granville 
to East Sauquoit, where he lived and died. At the age of 
sixteen years — in April, 1781 — he enlisted in the war of the 
Revolution and served nine months, being stationed on the 
northern frontier, until Coi-nwallis surrendered. His house 
at East Sauquoit was a little south of the tannery-bi-ook, and 
now owned and occupied by Alfred Johnson. Here he car- 
ried on the business oi saddle and harness making, (General 
LeRoy Gates was his apprentice,) and also transacted his offi- 
cial business, being appointed Justice of the Peace by Gov- 
ernor Morgan Lewis, in 1805, which office he held for twenty- 
six years; he was also, about the same time, appointed by 
Governor Lewis to the office of Superintendent of the Stock- 
bridge and Brotherton Indians, which office he held for lifteen 
years; and during most of the time, until about 1830, he was 
Commissioner of Deeds. He was a man of strictest integrity, 
and discharged the duties of his various offices with skill and 
impartiality. He was a prominent Freemason, and one of 
the charter members of Paris Lodge, founded in 1822, and 
was the first Senior Warden of that lodge, his son, Pliilo C. 
Curtiss, being the first Junior Deacon, at the same time. 
After a long life of distinguished usefulness, beloved by all, 
this Revolutionary veteran, 'Squire Asahel Curtiss, quietly 
passed away, May 15, 1852, aged 87. 

His oldest son, Charles O. Curtiss, lived during his lifetime 
on his farm, beautifully located east of Sauquoit, on the brow 
of the hill west of Elkanah Hewitt's, and commanding a fine 
view of the village and the valley. He was a worthy citizen, 
member of the Methodist Church, and also of the choir; "the 
father of twenty-one living children," as he used to say, and 
peacefully went the way of all the living, July 20, 1868, aged 
83. Philo C. Curtiss, the second son, was a mechanic of rare 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 219 

skill and great inventive genius, perfecting an improvement 
of the power-ioom at the early day of its introduction into the 
factories of the Valley, and soon after removed to Utica, where, 
after many years of ingenious industry, he, too, joined his 
fathers, Sept. 24<, 1864, at the advanced age of 75, his sou, 
Philo S. Curtiss, succeeding to the business, since developed 
by him to the present well-known, extensive machine shop. 
John Curtiss, the third son of 'Squire Curtiss, who at an early 
day carried on a carding mill, clover mill and woolen mill on 
the site (afterwards Savage &l Moore's old paper mill,) also 
built the tannery at East Sauquoit, and in those old times a 
prominent and active business man, lemoved from the village 
many years ago, and died April 12, 18(32, at the age of 69. 

Josiah Mosher was born in Pepperell, Mass., in 1754. He 
entered the army, with his brother John, at the breaking out 
of the RevcJutionary War, and served seven years. He came 
to Paris with his brother and family in 1791, a sister, Mrs. 
Grimes, riding on horseback the entire distance, the trip occu- 
pying about two weeks. For a riding whip, she cut a sprout 
from a cheiished willow tree on the old homestead at Pep- 
perell, which she carried in her hand, and upon dismounting 
in the valley of the Sauquoit, she stuck it down in the moist 
ground near the creek, where it took root and grew to be a^ 
mighty tiee, from which other sprouts, in great number, were 
cut and set out in the same manner, and the place became 
noted for the great number of those trees, and in time came 
to be called " Willowvale," most of which, up the hillside, 
Josiah Mosher settled. He afterward exchanged his farm for 
the Major Gere tannery and farm at East Sauquoit. After a 
long life of usefulness, the old Revolutionary hero of " Mon- 
mouth" and many a well-fought field, went to his rest, August, 
1846, aged 92. There survive of his children here, Rebekah, 
widow of Dr. Rufus Priest, now wife of Dr. L. Bishop, and 
Cornelia, wife of S. A. Millard. Josiah Mosher, Jr., went to 
Kentucky at an early day, and kept the hotel at the Mam- 
moth Cave, one of the great natural wonders of the continent. 
S. Emei-son, the old schoolmaster, married the eldest daughter 
of Henry Crane, and removed to Oneida, III, some years ago, 
where he died ; the other sou, George W., died many years ago- 



220 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

He was an active member of old Paris Lodge F. & A. M., admit- 
ted July 5, 1824. Betsey Mosher, who married a Mr. Cook, 
reared a family of six — four boys and two girls : Edward, W. 
Newton, Josiah, Henry, Jane and Harriet. She died a year 
or two since, and her children survive her, except Josiah, who 
died a few years since, in Michigan. Edward is a well known 
business man in Oswego county, where he has resided many 
years ; W. Newton is one of the pioneers of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and has witnessed its growth from the wilderness to a 
city; he is a prominent business man there, ex-alderman, and 
has held other offices of trust. His father died at his house, 
some years ago. Henry resides in the vicinity of Grand Rap- 
ids, and is a prosperous farmer. Jane, who mairied John 
Crane, and after the loss of their farm-house by fire, on the 
morning of May 1, 1872, and the uatimely death of her hus- 
band a few days later, rented the farm, and lives with a mar- 
ried daughter — Mrs. Celia Maltby, at West Sauquoit. Har- 
riet Cook, the youngest daughter, went to Michigan, with the 
family, many 3'ears ago, and in the early days of Mormonism, 
embraced that taith, and married, or was sealed, (his second 
wife,) to the late Governor Brigham Young, by whom she had 
one son, grown to manhood, a prominent business man in Salt 
Lake City, Utah, with whom she resides since the death of 
her husband, Governor Young. Belinda Mosher married 
Captain William Knight, and in February, 1836, while he 
was at Albany as Member of Assembly, she died instantly, of 
heart disease, leaving five children, the youngest — Charles — 
an infant. The sad event occurred during the "deep snow of 
1836,"which covered the ground to the depth of six feet. In 
those days there were no telegraphs, and the roads being ob- 
structed by the snow, some delay occurred in getting the sad 
news to Mr.Knight; when received, he set outat once,and trav- 
eling night and day, crushed with grief, made all the progress 
possible. The day of the funeral arrived. Kind neighbors 
turned out and shoveled a deep cut through the snow from 
the door of his residence up to the old churchyard, and a 
space around the open grave, near where the Academy now 
stands. The cut was made wide enough for the bier and the 
bearers — there being no hearse in those days, their beautiful 
dead being tenderly borne on a bier by four selected bearers 



SOLDIEPS OF THE REVOLUTION. 221 

to the last resting place — and such was the great depth of 
snow, that the procession was hid from view in the cut. The 
friends and mourners assembled ; the services were delayed a 
reasonable time, hoping for the arrival ot the absent husband 
and father, but at length proceeded with ; before the comple- 
tion of which, a jaded team came wallowing through the deep 
snow, the Captain leaped from the sleigh, and a moment later 
was bending over the corpse of his beautiful wife, whom a 
few weeks befoie he had left in peifect health, and the full 
flu.sh of matronly beauty, — the weeping children clinging the 
while to the gri'^f-distracted father; a heart-rending scene, 
never effaced from the memory of those present. After the 
first outburst of grief had in a measure subsided, the old min- 
ister, with trembling voice, addressed a prayer to the Throne 
of Grace for the afflicted father and bereft little ones, that in 
a measure calmed his sobbing audience, and the sad ceremony 
was brought to a close. As the procession moved through the 
deep cut to the old churchyard, the Captain was moved with 
emotionsof gratitude to the kind neighbors that had rendered 
the moving of the procession possible, and at the open grave 
of his fair young bride, as his tears mingled with the earth 
that forever hid her from his view, Captain Knight registered 
a vow, that " he would ever after, through life, render assist- 
ance in sickness and death." How well he kept that vow, 
thousands in the Valley can attest, and many have wondered, 
that laying aside all business, he always volunteered his aid 
in the much needed afflicted hour. During the last years of 
his life, he imparted the secret to the writer, and as he has 
gone to meet the reward of the good deeds done here below, 
his death absolves the pledge of secrecy. It is a coincidence 
that, his funeral also occurring in February, (thirty-nine years 
after his wife,) the impas.sable road to the cemetery, rendered 
so by the deep snow, was shoveled out by a "bee" of his 
townsmen. His four boys, Francis M., Milton L., George H. 
and Charles Carroll, are in the west, and his only daughter, 
Louisa, married to Dr. DeWitt Bacon, son of Homer Bacon, 
went to Oneida, 111., where she died a few years ago. Poll}- 
Mosher, who married Zabine Luce, died, a few years since, at 
ihe residence of her only daughter, Mrs. Cornelius J. Knick- 
erbocker, of Utica. John Mosher, an officer of the Revolu- 



222 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

tiooary War, who was prostrated by the heat aud carried 
from the field at the battle of Monmouth, N. J., came to Paris 
with his brother, Josiah, in 1791 ; carried on a tannery with 
his son, Abijah, at an early day, on the site of the Rogers 
machine shop, at Willowvale, and also built the sawmill fur- 
ther up the stream, carried on for many years by his son, 
Abel. He died many years ago. Abel Mosher was born in 
Pepperell, Mass., Oct. 4, 1779, and at twelve years of age 
came to the Valley, in 1791, with his parents; arriving at 
manhood he married Sarah, daughter of Ephraim Warren, a 
Revolutionary soldier, and cousin to General Warren, and who 
was with him when he fell, mortally wounded, at the battle 
of Bunker Hill. Abel Mosher carried on the sawmill built 
by his father, and for many years kept the tavern there, just 
south of the sawmill. He had three sons and three daugh- 
ters. Warren, his eldest son, removed to Ohio many years 
ago, where, in a fit of melancholy, he died by his own hand ; 
Chauncey L. was a promising young business man, and was 
the accomplished superintendent of HoUister's extensive fac- 
tories at Clayville, and died January 9, 1850, aged 29. His 
widow survives, married to 'Squire Charles C. Wicks, of Paris 
Hill. Augustus has long been a resident of New York city, 
and for many years the courteous landlord of a popular Broad- 
way hotel. Betsey, the eldest daughter, married Hon. C. S. 
Butler, and died March 29, 1836, aged 32. Mary A., born in 
1810, married Alanson A. Butler, and died April 11, 1838, 
aged 28. Clarissa Mosher survives, — the widow of the late 
David J. Millard, of Clayville, where she resides. Sarah 
Warren, wife of Abel Mosher, died July 15, 1825, aged 42, 
He married a second wife, (Widow Morehouse,) by whom he 
had one son, Francis, who survives, residing at New Haven, 
Ct. Abel Mosher was well and favorably known in the Val- 
ley, a prominent business man in the early days. Retiring 
from active business, he spent his declining years at Sauquoit 
and Clayville, and passed away Sept. 25, 1868, aged 89. A 
daughter of Ephraim Warren, the Bunker Hill hero, survives 
— Mrs. Elias Pratt, of Volney, Oswego county, N. Y. 

Kirtland Grifiin was born in the town of Guilford, Conn., 
in the year 1752. When but a boy he was deprived of ma- 



SOLDIERS OF THE EEVOLUTION. 223 

ternal instruction and influence by the death of his mother. 
At the commencement of the Revolutionary struo-trle he was 
among the first to enter the lists to effect the emancipation of 
his country. While with the army at Ticonderoga, his health 
became considerably impaired. With the view of improving 
his health, and at the same time of serving his country, he 
determined on biaving the dangers of the ocean. He accord- 
ingly shipped on board of one of the earliest privateers that 
were fitted out in that contest, to annoy and cripple the com- 
merce of Great Britain. The cruise was short and disastrous. 
At the end c^f three months their craft was captured by the 
British ship Nonesuch, of superior force, and taken to Ply- 
mouth, England, wheie himself and comrades in arms were 
thrown into that den of misery, the Mill Prison. Here 
through hunger and the loathsomeness of the place, he suflfered 
extremely. At the end of two years and six months he, with 
two hundred others, were exchanged and sent in a cartel to 
the Minister of the United States in France, at Nantes. 

During his incarceiation in the old Mill Prison, he formed 
the acquaintance of Richard Dale, a fellow prisoner, then re- 
cently a master's mate of the U. S. brig Lexington, who some- 
time previous to the exchange of prisoners contrived to escape 
from Mill Prison and make his way to Fiunce. Here he fell 
in with Commodore John Paul Jones, a Scotchman by birth, 
but whom the American Congress had appointed a Captain 
in their navy, and then commanded a squadron fitted out in 
the ports of France, his flag-ship being the Bon Homme Rich- 
ard. Mr. Dale, a native of Viiginia, and subsequently a dis- 
tinguished naval captain, was tendered the position of first 
lieutenant on the Richard, by Commodore Jones, which he 
promptly accepted, and the Commodore being furnished with 
blank commissions for the purpose of recruiting, filled one out 
and Lieutenant Dale at once assumed his duties. Just at this 
time the 200 exchanged prisoners arrived, with the intention 
of being sent home, but the Richard being short-handed, 
Lieutenant Dale solicited volunteers from their ranks. Our 
hero, Kirtland Grifiin, promptly stepped to the front. His 
example of patriotism proved electrical, and nearly one hun- 
dred, (who had expected to go home,) with three hearty cheers, 
sprang to his side. The others being too enfeebled by lonor 



224! HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

confiMement for enlistment for active duty, were placed on 
board the Alliance, to be convoyed home. This accession of 
numbers 2:ave the flag-ship a respectable body of Americans, 
to sustain the honor of the flag she so proudly bore. The 
squadron set sail, but the bi-ave and daring Commodore Jones, 
instead of sailing direct to the United States, as was expect- 
ed, mu«t needs "beard the lion in his den" by cruising around 
the Island of Britain. On the cruise, when near the coast of 
Scotland, in September, 1779, he sighted the British frigate 
Serapis, which he decided to engage, and clearing the decks 
for action at once bore down upon. The battle that followed 
proved one of the most obstinate and bloody recorded in 
naval warfare, in which Commodore John Paul Jones acquired 
the reputation .of a daring and fortunate commander. At 
half-past seven in the evening, his own ship, the Bon Homme 
Richard, of 40 guns, engaged the Serapis, a British frigate of 
44. After the action had continued an hour, the two frigates 
approached so near to each other that Jones, seizing the op- 
portunity, lashed them together. 

The battle now became furious, and the carnage horrible. 
The Serapis was on tire not less than ten times; and often 
both frigates were on Are at the same moment, presenting a 
sublime and dreadful spectacle. At length, the Alliance, one 
of Jones's squadron, came to his assistance; but the two 
frigates being fastened together, many of her shot struck the 
Bon Homme Richard. At ten o'clock the Serapis surrend- 
ered. Her successful antagonist was so shattered, that the 
crew were obliged to leave her immediately, and she soon 
after sunk. The Pallas, which was also one of Jones's Sijuad- 
ron, engaged at the same time and captured the Countess of 
Scarborough. After the engagement, the British captain at- 
tributed his defeat to the presence of the Mill Prison sailors, 
knowing that they would fight to the death, rather than be 
conquei'ed and again be confined there another teiin. 

After the battle, the squadron set sail for Holland where 
they safely ai-rived. When 'Squire Grifiin left the Serapis 
he secured as a trophy from her armament, a plain cutlass, 
which he carefully i-etained, and it is still preserved in the 
family as a cherished memento of that [)erilous fight. He 
was with the brave and daring Commodore Paul Jones 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 225- 

eitrhteen months and was in nine engagements. Finally, after 
an absence of four years, he sailed from France for his native 
land. During his lifetime he always celebrated the anniver- 
sary of his deliverance from the hoirors of Mill Piison as a 
day of thanksgiving, assembling his children and grandchil- 
dren around his sumptuous table, in true old New England 
style. 

At the conclusion of the war the cities and villages through- 
out the > ew England States " celebrated peace," as it was 
called — much in the same manner that they afterwards did 
the Fourth of July. Our hero was determined that his native 
town, North Guilforo, Conn., should not be behindhand in 
doing honor to the occasion, and as they had no cannon, he 
visited the surrounding places to procure one, but found them 
all " bespoke." At a corner of the park in New Haven was' 
an ancient, heavy piece of ordnance set in the ground, muzzle 
down, as a relic, which the authorities tendered him on con- 
ditions that he should replace it again. Procuring assistance, 
he dug up the monster, and with three yoke of oxen hauled 
it home, where it was cleaned of the long accumulated rust 
and prepared for action. The day arrived ; the women pre- 
pared the refreshments for an old-time feast, to conclude with 
an old-fashioued dance on the village green, the festivities to 
open with a Federal salute of 13 guns from old "Ticonderoga," 
under command of " Captain" Griffin. The gun was carefully 
loaded and discharged, but our veteran was not fully satis- 
fied -with the report; "she didn't speak loud enough," and he 
declared and vowed his determination to make her roar the 
thirteenth and last time. He accordingly put in a tremend- 
ous charge of powder, and with well rammed wadding loaded 
her to the muzzle. At the smell of gunpowder the old hero 
had got his blood up, and, lost to all sense of danger, was on 
the point of applying the match, when some one of the more 
timid ones interposed and persuaded him to fix a slow match 
to touch her off. To this he consented and the slow match 
being fired they all retired to a safe distance. A few moments 
of breathless expectation, a vivid flash leaped heavenward 
from the breech, a deafening, crashing, thundering roar that 
shook the rocks and hills of old Guilford as never before or 
O 



220 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

since, the mighty echo ere long reverVjerating back fioui the 
distant mountains, like the deep- toned thunder of a tropical 
storm ; the thick sulphurous cloud slowly lifted, eddying up, 
disclosing the scorched and blackened " green ;" but the can- 
non ! where was she ? Echo didn't answer where. Blown 
into a thousand fragments, the old gun had boomed its last 
roar. Providentially no one was injured, and after the first 
shock w-as over, and the astonishment recovered from, the fes- 
tivities were resumed, and the feast enjoyed, and then "on 
with the dance," and the day passed with great rejoicing. 

In the year 1791, he came to the wilderness of Paris, and 
settled on the east side of the creek near what is now Chad- 
wick's. He erected a sawmill on the east bank of the creek 
near the upper end of the present large reservoir that sup- 
plies Chadwick's factor}^ When the Presbyterian Church 
was first formed at New Hartford, by Dr. Jonathan Edwards, 
of New Haven, Conn., in August, 1791, he became one of the 
" fathers of that church," and gave in his name as one of the 
number, having previously attached himself to that denomi- 
nation on his return to America. A few years later he with- 
drew and joined the little band of Methodists at Bethelville, 
(now East Sauquoit,) and became one of the most earnest 
leading members. He was one of the first trustees of that 
societ}'', and in after years was always called the '"father of 
the church." He was for many years Justice of the Peace,, 
and in all the relations of life honored and respected. During 
the great revival of Rev. Alexander Irvine in the spring of 
1830, he was taken violently with what at first had the ap- 
pearance of inflammatory rheumatism. His sufferings were' 
great, but his patience overcame all complaint. His sons, 
Robert, Camp and Joel, were with him through all. The last 
words he was heard to utter were, "Joel, this is a good time." 
He died in peace, Fridaj", April 9, 1830, aged 78. On the day; 
of his funeral, though the weather was rainy, more were pres- 
ent than could enter the meeting house. The recollection ofi 
his virtues long dwelt in the memory of those who knew the^ 
valiant old hero of Ticonderoga and nine naval battles, and; 
a pioneer of Paris — 'Squire Kirtland Griffin. 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 227 

In the year 1765, near a staid old New England sea-port 
•town, resided a French emigrant with his wife and an only 
dauo-htei, a beautiful, sprightly lass just blooming- into wo- 
manhood, with flashing eyes, resplendent with traditional na- 
tional vivacity, the idol of her fond parents. In the vicinity, 
.a youthful scion of Puritan parents, just arrived at his major- 
ity and the paternal acres — a fine, well-stocked farm, in the 
broad valley of the Connecticut — of stalwart form, and in the 
vigorous prime of earlj^ manhood, thrown often in the tiiaid- 
en's society, enamored with her bewitching eyes and petite 
form, a victim to the old, old story, fell in love, which to his 
unspeakable delight was warmly reciprocated. Her parents 
suddenly awakened to the tender state of afl'airs, rudely 
dashed to earth their love's young dream, and interdicted 
their further wooing. They could find no objections to the 
man of her choice, who possessed many (j^ualitications to com- 
mand their i-espect, was a fair type of the sturdy, intelligent 
farmer of that eai'ly period, and owned a splendid farm; but 
they, wearied of the cold, uncongenial clime of New England, 
and, longing for the sunny, vine-clad valley of their native 
land, had resolved to dispose of their farm and betterments at 
the tirst opportunity, and return to la belle France, and could 
not find it in their hearts to go home and leave their much- 
loved daughter in a foreign land. In due time, the farm dis- 
posed of, the coveted opportunity of their return presented 
itself in a French ship that touched at the port, homeward 
bound. With passage secured, the household goods and bag- 
gage aboard, they only awaited the turn of the tide for their 
departure. During the leave-takings and good-byes, and the 
•consequent excitement, at the last moment, when about to 
take the boat that should put them aboard the ship swingincr 
at her anchor in the harbor, they suddenly missed their 
daughter. A hurried search through the little town failed to 
discover her. The signal sailing gun boomed over the waters, 
but the kind-hearted, sympathetic captain consented to a rea- 
sonable delay — another tide — to enable a more thorough 
search, in which the whole village united in vain. She had 
disappeared as absolutely as if the grave had opened and 
swallowed her up. Again the signal gun announced no fur- 
ther delay, the sad, reluctant parents aboard, the anchor hove 



h 



228 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

a-peak, the tapering masts and spars alive with active seamen, 
the snowy canvas gracefully drooped to position, and soon all 
taut, filled with the fa\oring land-breeze, the gallant ship, 
crathering headway, bounded forward, the idle villagers dis- 
persed, a"nd ere long, far out at sea a little speck of white, 
like a sea-gull, soon after lost to sight in the far distant blend- 
ing of sea and sky, and the ship, she sailed away, in the 
shimmering sea dissolved like the vision of a dream. Emerg- 
ino- from an old-fashioned brick oven, where securely hid and 
furtively fed, during the search, by her ardent lover, self- 
orphaned, as the receding ship, bearing forever away her pa- 
rents, disappeared behind the jolling billows of the blue ocean, 
the charming French girl, shaking out her rumpled tresses, 
fell sobbing into the willing arms of Benjamin Merrill, the 
man of her choice, to whom her troth was plighted, of a verity 
" forsaking all others to cleave unto him." As soon as the 
proper time elapsed to publish the bans in compliance with 
the " blue laws," they were united in marriage, there being 
none to forbid. 

At the breaking out of the revolutionary war, a company 
one hundred strong— the largest from any village in the New 
England States— was raised at the village of Old Hartford 
Conn., Benjamin Merrill being one of the first to enlist. The 
company was ordered into the south, and in their passage to 
Savannah, Georgia, the transport, cariying some five hundred, 
was so overcrowded that many died before ai-riving at their 
destination. The campaign proved disastious ; the casualties 
of battle, diseases incident to that climate, and camp fever, 
did a sad work. Of that gallant one hundred, that to the 
stirring music of fife and drum marched to glory from the 
village^of Hartford, cheered on by the best wishes and prayers, 
of fond, weeping mothers, sisters,, wives and sweethearts, only ] 
two ever returned to see the village-green of their Hartford i 
home— Benjamin Merrill, and one brave compatriot. Upon* 
the return of our hero at the close of the war, he found his 
valuable farm in very good condition, the work having been 
carried on by his energetic wife, assisted by the children, his-j 
son Zenas being a stout lad, in his teens. A few years later, 
in the spring of 1791, the old hero took his way to the wilds-^ 
of Central New York, and upon arriving at New HartfordJ 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 229 

weiit u|) the Sauquoit Valley and iocated a farm for his son 
Zenas, west of the creek, uear Chadwick's, and extending up 
the hillside and south to Charles Cooledge's line, in lot 72 of 
Bayard's Patent. Returning home, he sent Zenas forward to 
clear up the land. He was accompanied by his sistei- Jerusha, 
a beautiful girl of sixteen, to do the housework. Their log 
house was located at the foot of the hill, on the west side of 
the present main road, near the brook, and between it and 
the present residence of Mr. M. M. Neal, a descendant. On 
the opposite side of the highway, was afterward situated the 
cooper shop of Aimeron Moore, (father of Zenas and Naaman 
W. Moore, deceased, and of Benjamin Moore and Widow Neal, 
who survive,) who married a daughter of the old hero, Benja- 
min Merrill. In clearing off the land, and while log-rolling, 
Zenas was injured, and upon advice of physicians, started 
back for the eastern home ; but upon reaching Schenectady, 
he was prostrated, died suddenly, and was buried there. Je- 
jmsha was married to Charles Cooledge, a young pioneer, and 
their nearest neighbor, December 23, 1792. In January 
1793, the old hero, Benjamin Merrill, sold his valuable Con- 
necticut Valley farm in the suburbs of Hartfoid, and with his 
family removed to the Sauquoit Valley farm, where he ever 
after resided. 

About the time of the wai' of 1812, the pioneer Irishman 
of the valley, James Fineghan, put in an a|ipearance, seeking 
•employment of " Uncle" Bei.. When asked if he could 
chop — the important branch of work at that period — he de- 
clared he could, whereupon the old man engaged him on trial, 
and conducting him to the western hillside to the edge of 
the dealing {)ointed out to hiui as his first job a giant elm 
tree, with the remark, " There, see if you can fall that tree, so 
as to smash that rail fence all to pieces" — a six-rail fence, 
with rider, just completed and leading along past the trees — 
and then returned to the house. In due time, hearing the 
crash of the falling tree, he went up to see if the job was 
well done. Struck dumb with rage and astonishment he 
found that the tree had been felled on the fence, six rods of 
which were sma.shed into flinders. Before he had recovered 
his sjjeech "Jimmy" inquired of him "if he had done the 
job to suit," adding that he "always obeyed orders if it broke 



230 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

owners." " Yes, or fences either," said Uncle Ben, suddenly- 
remembering his parting remark, which the Irishman had 
accepted hterally and obeyed. The old man saw that he had 
a " character" on hand, and gave him employment, "Jimmy" 
remaining with him many years and proving trusty and 
faithful, but Uncle Ben was thereafter cautious how he 
worded his orders. 

Charles Cooledge was one of the first trustees of the M. E. 
• Church at East Sauquoit, his wife Jerusha being also a mem- 
ber, and they influenced James Fineghan and his wife Lucy 
to attend the meetings, where they both became converted in 
1815, during the celebrated revival of Rev. Abner Chase, the 
first pastor, and both became members of that church.. 
Charles Cooledge afterwards withdrew and united with the 
Church of Christ at West Sauquoit, and in 1832-33, when 
they adopted the Presbyterian form, he was one of the first 
six Elders ordained. He was born in Roxbury, Mass., July 
18, 1768, came on to the farm alluded to — now owned and 
occupied by Mr. John Chadwick — in 1791, and after a use- 
ful life in church and society, went to his j-est August 1, 1837,. 
aged 69 years. His wife Jerusha survived him, and passed 
away at an advanced age December 30, 1856. 

Benjamin Merrill had n)any descendants, among whom sur- 
viving aie the Moore and Neal families, Naaman W. Moore, 
however, was his favorite grands«)n, whom he aided materiall}'^ 
in starting in business. The brave old hero of romance and 
the Revolution put off his armor and joined his old village 
company of patriots "gone before," November 23. 1822, at 
the ripe old age of 82. The charming French girl, in genial 
pleasant old age, amused her rapt-listening grandchildren 
with many a quaint tale of early pioneer life and adventure. 
One day, gently falling asleep, October, 1821, she pas.sed over 
the " dark river" to that voiceless, echoless .shore, pieceding' 
her ardent, boyish lover, a little more than a year. 

David Curtiss was born in Sharon, Conn., September 7, 
1767. In the last years of the Revolutionary war, he was- 
drummer boy of the "minute men." He was early left an 
orphan. After the war he removed to Vermont, where he 
married Miss Lucy Bennett, where was born to them Annay 



SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 231 

Oct. 3, 1790; Claris.sa, Nov. 2,1707; HenrV: Dec, 3, 1792; 
and Ransom, Jan. 8, 1800. Deacon Cnrtiss moved to Sau- 
quoit in June. 1813, and .settled on a farm on the road leading 
from the Burning Spring to the Bentley district, then known 
as the Bishop farm, now part of the Mattison farm. He was 
a prominent member of the Congregational church at West 
Sauquoit. April 26, 1832, the Church resolved to adopt the 
Presbyterian form of government, and five elders were elected, 
two of whom declined to be ordained ; the other three, David 
Curtiss, Salmon Holmes and Ahijah Hubbard were ordained 
July 26, 1832, the first elders of the church. About this time 
Deacon Curtiss removed to the village of East Sauquoit in the 
house now occupied by Mr. Cole, west of the store of Miller 
i: Nichols, where he resided many years greatly respected, 
quiet and unobtrusive, very firm in his belief but not violent 
in his opinions. At the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Fos- 
ter of New Hartfoid, Aug. 12, 18o5, near the close of his 88th 
year. Deacon David Curtiss, the drummer boy of the Revolu- 
tion, in the fullness of years, jieacefully went to his rest. 
His daughter Clari.ssa married Sam Hackett, (cousin of the 
now Gen. Hackett. U. S. army,) long and favorably known 
as a resident of Sauquoit. Ransom Curtiss, the youngest son, 
born in Vermont in the year 1800, came with his father to 
Sauquoit at the age of 13. In 1822 he mari-ied Esther Pierce, 
daughter of Dr. Spauldiug Pierce, and tneieafter for several 
years was the popular landlord of the old Savage stand at 
West Sauquoit, and here his son Henry P. Curtiss was born 
May 24, 1824'. His son, Charles Carroll, was born at the 
homestead ot Dr. Pierce, Nov. 8, 1826. February 9, 1824?, 
Ransom Curtiss was made a Mason in Paris Lodge, No. 348, 
F. & A. M. He was in business with a Mr. Adams in Utica, 
and in 1831 started the " new crockery store," No. 34 Genesee 
street. In 1832, (cholera year,) Frederick S. Savage became 
a partner in the business. At the death of his wife, his two 
boys, Henry and Charles, mere lads, made their home with 
their grandfather. Deacon Curtiss, at East Sauquoit, for a few 
years. Ransom Curtiss, so well and favorably i-emerabered 
in the valley of the Sauquoit, now resides at Hillsdale, Mich., 
with his son, Charles G, at whose residence was celebrated 
his 80th birthday, Jan. 28, 1880, where he, in the full enjoy- 



2:32 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

meet of rare uood health, hale aud hearty, received the cou- 
gratulations of his many friends, which find aa echo in the 
hearts of those who live to remember him in the Valley — his 
Aioj'hood home. 



CHAPTER XX. 

SOLDIERS OF THE W^AR OF 1812, WHO SURVIVE. 

Dr. Leverett Bishop, served at Sacketts Harbor as Sur- 
geon's Mate, (now called Assistant Surgeon,) resides at Sau- 
quoit, aged 89 years ; John King, served at Sacketts Harbor 
as private, now resides at Sauquoit, aged 88 ; Captain Asahel 
Dexter, resides at Cassville, was a cajjtain in the war, aged 
94 ; Prof Charles Avery, served at Sacketts Harbor, now re- 
sides at Clinton. 

THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY. 

Amos Bishop, (was under fire at Oswego;) Val Pierce, 
Chauncey Gorton, Daniel Prior, Abel Randal, Captain Zacha- 
riah P. Townsend, (died 1874, aged 92 ;) John Vanderpool, 
Ephraim Gates, (died July 8, aged 93;) Daniel Stanton, 
William Bainett, Bisho[) T.Randall, (died December, 1879, 
aged 85;) ' Scjuire David BudlongV (died 18G0, aged 63;) 
Captain John Budlong, of Sauquoit, (died 1860, aged 70;) 
Josiah W. Bagg, (died September, 1870, aged 83 ;) Captain 
Zerah Brown, (died in Wisconsin;) Caleb Green, Zenas 
Moore. A curious coincidence of that veteran is the fact that 
he was born the same day as Governor William L. Marcy, 
and died the same day, both dropping dead of heart disease, 
away from home and at hotels. Governoi- Marcy was born 
December 12, 1786, and on July 4, 1857, at the Sans Souci 
Hotel at Ballston Spa, N. Y., about I2h o'clock p. M., fell dead 
in hi> room, in the 71st year of his age. Our hero, Zenas 



SOLDIERS OK THE WAR OF 1812. 233 

Moore, (burn December 12, 178(5,) on the eventful Inde- 
pendence Day attended the celebration at Utica, hale and 
hearty, among the then surviving veterans of 1812. At the 
close of the celebration, he repaired to Van Wornier's Hotel, 
Deertield, partaking of a hearty sui)per, in apparant excellent 
health for a man threescore \'ears and ten. After supper he 
stepped out into the yard where he, too, fell dead of heart 
disease, about 6 o'clock P. M. 

Captain John Budlong, who removed from Cassville at 
an early day, and settled on the old 'Squire Gritiin farm, 
north of East Sauquoit, (now occupied by Mr. McCabe,) was 
at Sacketts Harbor. He removed to Utica some years since, 
where he died in 1860, aged 70 years. His children were : 
Melissa, Philander, James J., and Susan, of whom Philander 
alone survivers, residing at Clinton. 

CAPTAIN ZACHARIAH P. TOWxXSEND's COMPANY. 

27th Regiment Detached Militia ; Lieutenant Colonel Chris- 
topher P. Bellinger, Commander; Oliver Collins, Brigadier 
General. Muste'r Roll September 20th, 1814 

Commissioned Officers — Zachariah P. Townsend, Captain ; 
Peter B. Casler, Lieutenant ; Zeba Corbet, Lieutenant; James 
L. Campbel, Ensign ; Ethel Judd, Ensign. 

Non-commissioned Oncers — Richard Smith, Orderly Ser- 
geant; Luke Kieth, Sergeant, (Sauford Main, substitute;) 
Oeorge Hess, Sergeant ; Harry Rising, Sergeant ; John Tru- 
man, Sergeant ; Harry Runels, Corporal ; Amos Jonson, 
Corporal ; Abraham Mower, Corporal; Jesse Turner, Corporal; 
Daniel Wright, Corporal ; Artemas Ward, Corporal. 

Musicians — Bartemas Hagerty, titer, (discharged Oct. 28, 
1814;) Henry Grants, drummer. 

Privates— Richsin] Waliath, John Buckdorf, (discharged 
•Oct. 8, 1814.) John Kelmer, Thomas Allen, Rudolph Casler, 
John Young, John Whight, Joseph Ruby, William Ruby, 
Isaac Hering, Albert Tibets, John F. Helmer, Jacob Tuman, 
Mibehart Casler, Alexander Forbes, Ezekiel Lee, Gardner C. 
West, Archibald Caterlin, George D. Williams, George F. 
Chrisman, Rusel Davis, Peter Piper, Lyman Bumpus, Joseph 
Rider, (discharged Oct. 3, 1814,) Amos P.Randal, Joseph Cole» 



234 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Oliver Wilcox, Leonard CoUings, Adam Ackler, Peter T. Mur- 
fey, Peter Spoon, John House, Frederick Miller, (sick, on fur- 
lough, Oct. 24-, 1814-,) Andrew Miller, (absent withouc leave, 
Sept. 24, 1814,) Adam A. Staring, (absent without leave, Sept. 
24, 1814,) Ira Williams, Jesse Toms, Mason Tilden, Abial 
Hill, Arnold Spencer, Rusel S. Hall, (died in hospital,) Phin- 
ehas Davis, Lawrence Ryan, Daniel Waren, Thomas Elmer,. 
John Raymond, Jr., Rufus Potter, Jacob House, (discharged 
Nov. 15, 1814,) Godfrey Wall, Randal King, Jonah Rider.. 
James Wilks, George Armstrong, James Smith, (discharged 
Nov. 15, 1814,) Jacob C. Edick.Henery Hess, Arvry Hagerty, 
James Truesdale, (discharged Nov. 7, 1814,) William Hagerty, 
Conrad Countr^'man, Jacob Buckdorf, Adam Steel, Richard 
Pangburn, Charles W. Shaw, Mark Staring, Uriah Whight- 
man, (J. L. Cami)beirs substitute,) John Castler, Peter S. 
Woolly, Ashel Alford, Nathan Chapel, Nicholas Harder, Mar- 
cus F. Lee, Amos Noble, Daniel Miller, Edmun Murdick,. 
Henry Sandy. 

Nicholas Casler, waiter (not from the line) to Lieut. P. B. 
Casler. 

Joseph Tenbroeck, waiter (not from the line) to Lieut-Col. 
C. P. Bellinger. 

Mustered by Ransom Rathbun, Brigade Major. 

(A large number of the company were recruited from Litch- 
tield.) Captain Z. P. Townsend was commissioned May 23. 
1812, by Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor State of New York. 

GENERAL ORDERS. 

Sir : You are herebj'^ requested to be and appear, and the 
Company under your command, at the house of Stutely Pal- 
mers in Gr. Flats, on the 13th day of this instant, at 8 
o'clock A. M., for general review and inspection ; and likewise 
you, and your Companj' under your command, are to meet at 
house of Reuben Reynotts, in Columbia, on the 12th day of 
this instant, at 8 o'clock A. M., tor the purpose of battalion 
training. By order of 

Lieut.-Col. Christ. P. Bellinger, 

Daniel C. Fox, Adjutant. 

Ger. flats. Sept. 6th, 1815. 
To Ca))t. Zachariah Townsend. 



SOLDIERS OF THE WAR OF 1812. 235. 

The manner in which the men were drafted for the War of 
1812, was unlike the plan adopted durino- the War of the Re- 
bellion, when the names were put in the wheel and drawn 
out, and was as follows, viz : All the able-bodied men in the 
town, between the ages of eighteen and foity-tive, were 
"warned out," and on a certain day assembled in line on the 
village green, when the drafting officer counted off, and every 
ninth man stepped to the front, and he must go to war, or 
furnish a substitute, and so on over and over the line, until 
the requisite number were drafted. The plan is a very fair 
one, provided the men were not arranged as St. Paul, accord- 
ing to the ancient tradition, once upon a time shrewdly fixed 
things. The tradition is, that on a certain voyage, having 
with him fifteen Christians and fifteen Jew,s, a violent storm, 
arose, and it became necessary to lighten ship by casting one- 
half of the passengers into the sea. St. Paul arranged them 
in line, and told off every ninth man, who was immediately 
thrown overboard, and when completed, the Jews weie all 
non est, a,nd the Christians all saved, as follows, viz: c, c, c, c, 
J. J. J. J. j> c, c, j, c, c, c, j, c, j, j, c, c, j, j, j, c, j, j, c, c, j. 

Cai)tain Townsend resided in Litchfield in 1812, but after- 
ward removed to Paris, and settled on the farm adjoining 
Baxter Gage's on the south, where he ever after resided, a man 
highly respected, a charter member of Sauquoit Masonic 
Lodge, an active and worthy member of the Methodist Church. 
He lived to a ripe old age, being born Aug, 15, 1782; the- 
veteran soldier passing away Oct. 28, 1874, aged 92 years.. 
His grandson, Z. Townsend Wilcox, resides at Omaha, Ne- 
braska. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

SOLDIERS AND OFFICERS IN THE GREA.T REBELLION. 

1862— Aug. 26, Amidon Sam'l. Corporal, Clayville, 146th 
Infantry; July 24<, Avery Edward B., Corporal, Clayville, 
117th Inf. or -tth Oneida, promoted to Corporal Nov. 11, 1863, 
wounded in both legs at Driiry's Bluff, Va,, May 16, 1864; 
Aug. 11, Anderson Wm. L3'^man, private, Clayville, 117th Inf ; 
July 28, Allen Charles, corporal, Clayville. 117th Inf., pro- 
moted to corporal, Jan. 25, 1863; Aug. 26, Avery Jared S., 
private, Clayvillej 146th Inf 

1863 — Dec. 22, Armstrong Joseph, private, Sauquoit, 14th 
H. A. 

1864 — Jan. 4, Anderson John, private, Clayville, 2d H. A. ; 
April 9, Armstrong Henry, private, Sauquoit, 15th Inf ; Aug. 
31, Anderson Mathew, private, Clayville, 6th H. A. ; 29, Allen 
Spencer A., private, Clayville, 20th Inf 

1864 — Aug. 31,Barker John, private, Paris, 6th cav.; Barber 
Orange, private, Claj^ville, 146th inf 

1862 — Aug. 9, Briggs Alex. M., private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf.; 11, Bailey Wm. M., sergeant, Paris, 117th inf; July 22, 
Bonfy Charles M., private, Brookfield, 117th inf, taken pris- 
oner; Aug. 4, Bates Josephus, private, Cassville, 117th inf » 
26, Bates George W., private, Clayville, 146th inf ; July 26, 
Beach Naaman C, corporal, Clayville, 117th inf, died ot small 
pox on Folly island, S. C, March 13, 1864, and was buried 
there; Aug. 5, Babcock Perry F., private. Bridge water, ll7t-h 
inf; 11, Barnum Herbert, private, Cassville, 117th inf, hurt 
by a tree; 11, Bailey Abel S., sergeant, Paris, 117th inf, 
wounded in leg at Drury's Blutf, Va., May 15, 1864; 7, Bur- 
ritt Wm. H., private, Paris, 8th cav. 

1863 — Dec. 22, Balf James, private. Pans, 15th cav.; Half 
Stephen, private, Pai'is, loth cav. 

1864 — April 8, Burk John, private, Paris, 2d H. A. ; Bray 
Peter, private, Paris, 2d H. A. ; Sept. 1, Brooks Russell H., 
private, Paris, 117th inf, wounded at Fort Fisher, N. C. 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 237 

1861 — April 22, Briske John, private Paris, 14th inf.; 20 
Brooks Hiram, private, ClayviJle, l^th inf. ; Sept. 29, Briggs 
Henry S., private, Sauquoit, 1st L. A., or Bates' battery ; Oct. 
15, Birdseye Henry, private, Sauquoit, 93d inf., dis. March 4, 
1868, re-enlisted Oct. 25, 1863, in U. S. A., Sig. Corps.. 

1863 — Aug. 11, Brown Lorenzo P., corporal, Paris, 117th 
inf., promoted to sergeant Aug. 31, 1862, wounded at Peters- 
burgh ; April 22, Browuell Franklin R., private, Sauquoit, 
4th H. A. 

1862 — Aug. 6. Browuell Albert E., 1st lieutenant, Sauquoit, 
146th inf., discharged Nov. 25, 1864; July 14, Brower Wesley, 
jiiivate, Sauquoit, lOlst inf., died of disease Sept. 14, 1864 — 
he came home to die; Aug. 24, Connor Edward, private, Paris 
6th cav. ; Crook Moses, private, Sauquoit, 146th inf., died of 
disease Jan. 18, 1863, at Wind Mill Point; July 22, Craft 
Stephen M., corpoial, Cassville, 117th inf. ; 25, Cogswell Joseph 
B., private, Sauquoit, 117th inf., killed at the battle north ot 
the James, Oct. 26, 1864; Cogswell John, private, Sauquoit, 
117th inf., killed at Drury's Blufi", May 15, 1864; Sept. 3, 
Cady Oscar L,, private, Clayville, 146th inf.; Aug. 13, Cran- 
dall, Henry N., private, Brookfield, 117th inf.; 28, Chapman 
Benjamin G., private, Cla3'ville, 146th inf. 

1864 — Jan. 4, Collins Leandei- W., private, Clayville, 2d H. 
A.; Connors John, private, Paris, 2d H. A.; Sept. 3, Cave 
John K., private, Clayville, 101st inf ; 5, Ciiggier Frank, 
private, Sauquoit, 3d L. A., taken prisoner at the 2d Bull Run, 
paroled after 15 days. 

1862 — Aug. 12, Clement Charles L., private, Pai-is, 117th 
inf. 

1863 — Aug., Coon Theodore D., Sauquoit, drafted ; Cahoon 
Benjamin, Sauquoit, drafted; Comstock Charles; Clark 
James. 

1861 — April 22, Chilson William J., private, Sauquoit, ''.4th 
inf 

1864 — Sept. 2, Carpenter Edwin L., private, Cassville, 1st 
L. A. 

1862— July 30, Camp Willard M., private, Paris, 117th inf. ; 
Aug. 1, Daboll Sherman B., corporal, Brookfield, 117th inf., 
wounded at Drury's Bluff, May 16, 1864; 9, Delong Martin, 



238 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

private, Paris, 117th inf.; Jul}' 30, Davis William R., private, 
Olayville, ll7th inf. 

1863— Dec. 22, Doxleu John, private, 14th H. A. 

1861 — Sept. 5, Dennison Darwin, private, Clayville, 14th 
inf 

1862 — Aug. 8, Da}- George B., private, Sauquoit, 117th inf ^ 
discharged by order Sec. of War, March 27, 1864 ; 9, Delong, 
0. R., corporal, Paris, 117th inf, pi-omoted Aug. 13, 1863, ser- 
geant May, 1863, died July 15, 1865; Aug. 13, Edmonds 
Henry, private, Clayville, 117th int.; Egon James, private^ 
^Clayville, 117th inf ; Dec. 22, Elmer David, private, Sauquoit, 
14th H. A., died June 27, 1864; Elmer John, private, Sau- 
quoit, 14th H. A., killed June 7, 1864. 

1862 — July 28, Ernst John D., corporal, Paris, (town of,) 
ll7th inf , promoted to sergeant April 13, 1864; July 27, 
English William, private, Paris, (town of,) 117th inf 

1863 — Dec. 22, Flame George, private, Paris, 14th H. A. 

1862 — August 13, Faley Patrick, private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf.; August 13, Foster Henry, private, Sauquoit, 117th inf., 
killed before Petersburg, June 30, 1864 ; August 30, Foster 
Isaac M., corporal, Sauquoit, 146th inf. Was taken prisoner 
May 5, at the battle of the Wilderness, taken to Andersonville 
prison, then to Florence, S. C, then to Wilmington, N. C, 
thence to Salisbury prison, and there was paroled February 
26, 1865. 

1861 — April 22, Finger Martin, private, Paris, 14th inf; 
Sept. 30, Fisk Henry A., private, Sauquoit, 1st L. A. 

1863— Aug. 26, Ford Columbus W., private, Clayville, 97th 
inf, drafted. 

1862 — Aug. 9, Green Martin V., private, Paris, (town of,) 
117th inf ; Oct. 10, Garlock Elias, private, Clayville, 146th 
inf ; Aug. 15, Gardinier Edwin A., private, Sauquoit, 8th cav., 
taken prisoner at Stony Creek, Va., was in prison five 
months, in which he contracted disease, of which he died in 
hospital at Annapolis, Md., March 6, 1865 ; his remains 
brought home and buried in the Sauquoit Valley Cemetery ; 
July 30, Greenhill William M., private, Paris, 8th cav. ; Aug. 
13, Gillman Henry, private, Clayville, 117th inf; Aug. 9, 
•Green George W., corporal, Clayville, 117th inf, promoted 
March, 1863, and to sergeant Jan. 15, 1865; Aug. 26, Giles 



SOLDIERS OF THE REHEl.LIoN. 239 

Richard S., sergeant, Clayville, 14«6th inf., wounded, lost his 
right arm at Cold Harbor, Va., June 2, 1864; 20, Gannon 
Thomas, private, Paris, 0th cav. 

1803 — Dec. 30, Galoren Richard, private, Sauquoit, Scott's 
900, inf. ; 31, Gage William B, private, Sauquoit, 3d L. A.; 
31, Gage William, private, Uth H. A. 

1861— April 22, Gotf Hiram, captain, Clayville, Uth inf.; 
Aug. 20, Green David Millard, private, Clayville, 97th inf., 
drafted, wounded, lost right foot at the battle of White Oak 
Swamp, Va., June 13, 1865. 

1862— July 30, Harrison John M., i)rivate, Paris, 117th 
inf., died Nov. 1, 1863; Howell Robert, drummer, Clayville, 
14th H. A..; July 24, Henninger Philip, private, Clayville, 
117th inf , wounded, lost an eye at the attack on Foit Fisher, 
N. C. ; Aug. 11, Hubbard George A., private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf; Henninger Eliat, private, Paris, 6th cav.; 13, Hart Earl 
A., private, Clayvdle, 117th inf, died. 

1863 — Dec. 28, Helmore William R., private, Sauquoit, 2d 
H. A. ; 29, Hendricks Isaac, private, Sauquoit, 14th H. A. 

1864 — Jan. 4, Henson William, private, Clayville, 2d H. A. ; 
Aug. 29, Hill Albert J., private, Brookfield, 1st light art. ; 
.Sept. 5, Henderson Alphonzo W., ^private, Clayville, 20th 
infantry. 

1861 — Sept. 5, Hilliard Charles, private, Cassville, 14th 
if., discharged September 5, 1873, afterwards went as a sub- 
stitute for Morris Childs in the 76th inf, was taken prisoner 
it the battle of the Wilderness and died in a southern 
jprison ; April 22, HoUenback Horace, private, Sauipioit, 14th 
infantry. 

1802 — Aug. 13, Head Jonathati E., captain, Paris, 100th inf, 
was promoted to corporal August 4, 1863, on the color guard 
from August 24, 1868, until May 16, 1864, and color bearer 
from May 16, 1864 to Oct. 4, 1864. Promoted to first sergeant 
Sept. 25, 1864, to first lieutenant December 1, 1864, and to cap- 
tain April 16, 1865. Participated in all the sieges of all the forts 
around Charleston, S. C; and was in the engagements around 
Richmond, Va., from May 7, 1864, until the surrender of 
General Lee at Appamatox Court House, April 9, 1865. Dis- 
charged at Richmond, Va., August 28, 1865; 11, Ireland 
Henry, private, Paris, 117th inf, wounded at Drury's Blutf ; 



240 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Oct. 10, Jones Owen R., private, Paris, 146th inf. ; Aug. 13y 
Johnson Lewis, private, Clayville, 117th inf. ; July 28, John- 
son Medine L., second lieutenant, Clayville, 117th inf, pro- 
moted to sergeant Aug. 31, 1862, to first sergeant Oct. 30,. 
1862, to second lieutenant Feb. 16, 1865, wounded. 

1864 — March 19, Jones Leroy, private, Paris, 117th inf ;. 
Knott Edward M., private, Paris, 92d inf, 111. 

1862 — Aug. 11, Knight Arthur, sergeant, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf, promoted to corporal April 13, 1864, to sergeant Feb. 17, 
1865 ; Dec. 15, Kimball Samuel A, private, Paris, 2d heavy 
artillery. 

1864 — Jan. 4, King Adam, ]>rivate, Clayville, 2d heavy 
art.; Aug. 5, Knight Joseph, private, Paris, 117th inf; Sept. 

9, Kiny.on Horace A., private, Paris, 117th inf, died Feb. 6, 
1865, of typhoid fever, at McDougal Hospital, New York 
Harbor. 

1861 — April 22, Kelsey Foster, private, Paiis, 14th inf.,. 
wounded in leg at battle of Gaines Mills, Va., discharged 
May 24, 1863. 

1862 — Aug. 15, Knight Robert,, corporal, Sauquoit, 129th 
inf.. 111., went with General Sherman on " the march to the 
sea" through Georgia to Savannah,, was taken prisioner near 
Goldsboro, N. G, and held a prisoner of war forty days. Dis- 
charged July 3, 18C5. 

1864— March 31, Long Thos., private, Clayville, 117th inf. 

1862 — July 25. Lackenby William, private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf, discharge:! for disability ; 24, Luce Roscoe W., private, 
Clayville, 117th inf, taken prisoner in front of Petersburgh, 
Va., Aug. 25, 1864, thence to Salisbury prison, N. C, where 
he died of disease, Dec. 19, 1864, and was there buried. Oct. 

10, Lasher Charles E., private, Clayville, 146th inf ; Aug. 11, 
Lasher William G., private, Sauquoit, 117th inf 

1864 — Sept. 5, Lasher Edward H., private, Sauquoit, third 
light artillery. 

1862— Aug. 20, Lott Frederic, Corp., Clayville, 146th inf, 
died of disease, in camp near Warrenton Junction, Va., Dec. 
18, 1863; 30, Loomis Edwin A., private, Cassville, 146th inf; 
Sept. 9, Larrabee David, surgeon, Paris, 86th inf, afterward, 
June 25, 1863, commissioned an.d assigned to the 84th Reg't 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 241 

inf. ; resigned March 22, 1864 ; June 10, 1864, went as acting 
assistant surgeon in the U. S. army. 

1864 — March 19,Leroy Jonas, private. Clay ville, 117th inf. • 
"31,Lary Thomas, private, Sauquoit, 117th inf, wounded in left 
arm at Drury's Bluff, May, 1864, was blown up at the mine 
explosion in Fort Fisher, Jan. 16, 1865, and wounded in the 
right arm. 

1861 — April 22, Leonard Newton, private, Paris, 14th inf 

1862 — Aug. 30, Mould George, second lieutenant, Sauquoit, 
146th inf; promoted to second lieutenant by commission, 
June 6, 1864 ; in the meantime, on May 5, 1864, at the battle 
of the Wilderness, was taken prisoner, carried to Anderson- 
•ville prison, then to Florence, S. C, thence to Wilmington, N. 
C, and near there made his escape into our lines, Feb. 25, 
1865; 27, Mattison Charles Levi, private, Sauquoit, 8th cav. ; 
13, Merrill Albert, corporal. Clay ville, 117th inf, badly wound- 
ed — promoted July 1, 1864, to corporal ; 22, Morgan David, 
private, Sauquoit, 146th inf; July 25, Millard Charles S., adjt. 
Clayville, 117th inf.; first lieutentant, Aug. 12, 1862; promo- 
ted to adjutant Sept. 29, 1864; resigned on account of ill 
health, Sept. 26, 1864 ; Aug. 8, Maxon Albert, private, Clay- 
ville, 117th inf; 30, Mathews Albert, private. Sauquoit, 146th 
inf ; 7, Minter Henrj^ private, Paris, 8th cav. 

1864 — Jan. 7, Mudge Henry S., private, Clayville, second 
heavy art., died of disease, Sept. 16, 1864; remains brought 
home and buried; McCarthy James, Jr., private, Paris, ll7th 
inf, wounded in the arm and sido at the battle of Chapin's 
Farm, and discharged from the hospital June 27, 1865 ; April 
8, McGinniss John, private, Paris, second heavy art. ; 12, Mon- 
ahan Peter, private, Paris, fifth heavy art.; 14, Mathews 
Thomas, private, Paris, 144th inf ; McCombs John, jjrivate, 
Paris, 144th inf; 29, Mason Arthur H., private, Clayville, 
20th inf. ; Sept. 5, McCormick John, private, Paris, 101st inf; 
7, McLaughlin John H., private, Paris, third light artillery; 
April 22, Millard Charles Otis, private, Clayville, 14th inf 

1863 — Aug. 26, Miller Ambrose H., private, Clayville, 97th 
inf, drafted ; wounded in left shoulder at Spottsylvania Court 
House, Va., May 11, 1864. 
p 



242 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

18G2 — Aug. 6, Mosher Gustave, private, Paris, (town of,) 
117th inf. 

1861 — May 8, Maltby Dauiel Webster, sergeant, Sauquoit, 
23d 111. inf. ; was taken prisoner Sept. 20, 1861, at the battle 
between Col. Mulligan and Price at Lexington, Mo.; after- 
wards in the eighth army corps, and was discharged June 18, 
1864 ; Sept. 24, Maltby William S., private, Sauquoit, first 
light art. ; Maltby Eugene J., private, Sauquoit, third light 
art., died of disease, June 20, 1865. 

1862— Maltby H. Milton, private, Sauquoit, 121st inf., 
wounded at Rappahannock Station, and severely wounded at 
Spottsylvania Court House, Va. ; 28, Neaiskern George, pri- 
vate, Sauquoit, 146th inf.; 7, Nearskern Nicholas, private, 
Sauquoit, 146th inf.; Oct. 10, Nichols Edward, private, Paris,^ 
146th int. ; Nash William C, private ; Nelson Andrew, pri- 
vate. 

1863 — Dec. 21, Nearskern Eugene, private, Sauquoit, 14th 
heavy art. 

1861 — Nov. 9, Nearskern George W., private, Sauquoit, 14th 
inf., discharged July 31, 1862 ; re-enlisted in the fourth heavy 
art., on April 22, 1863; Dec. 11, Orendorf George, private, 
Cassville, 14th inf. 

1864 — April 9, Orville Philip, private, Paris. 

1861 — Dec. 11, Oatley Simeon, private, Cassville; taken 
prisoner at Gaines Mills, Va. ; discharged Sept. 29, 1863. 

1864 — Sept. 2, Owens Owen, private, Clayville, 3d L. A., 
accidentally killed at Newberne, N. C, Jan. 12, 1865; Feb. 8, 
Oliver Edward W., sergeant, Paris, 117th inf. 

1861— April 22, Oatley Pulaski R, private, Ca.ssville, 14th 
inf. 

1862 — Aug. 11, Oatley Henry William, corporal, Cassville^ 
ll7th inf., wounded May 14, 1864, at Drury's Bluff, and soon 
after died of his wounds ; buried at Fortress Monroe, Hamp- 
ton, Va.; was promoted to corporal March 17, 1864; Pangburn 
Thomas J., private, Pai'is, 117th inf.; Porter John, private, 
Paris, 6th cav. ; Oct. 10, Palmer Henry F., private, Clayville, 
146th inf.; Aug. 13, Palmer Duane F., private, Paris, 117th 
inf.; 10, Prosser Daniel, private, Clayville, 117th inf.; July 24, 
Pangburn Thomas J., private, Clayville, 117th inf ; Aug. 13, 
Powers Michael, private, Clayville, 117th inf. ; July 22, Pette 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 243" 

William Eugene, sergeant, Clayville, 146th inf., missing, sup- 
posed to have been killed in the battle of the Wilderness,. 
May 5, 186-i. 

1861 — Aug. 15, Pettee Robert, corporal, Clayville, 50th N. 
Y. Engineers, wounded at the laying of the pontoon bridge at 
Fredericksburgh, Va., Dec. 11. 1862, and died in hospital Dec. 
15, 1862, remains brought home and buried in Sauquoit Val- 
ley cemetery. 

1863— July, Pettee Charles E., corporal, Clayville, 14th H. 
A., taken prisoner March 25, 1865 and carried to Richmond, 
Va., discharged Aug. 26, 1865. 

1862— Oct. 10, Palmer Henry W., private, Clayville, 146th 
inf ; Aug. 14, Peet Anson, private, Sauquoit, 146th inf ; Oct. 
10, Pitts James, private, Clayville, 146th inf. 

1863— Dec. 7, Parshall John B., private, Clayville, 117th 
inf, wounded ; 30, Patterson James, private, Sauquoit, 4tli 
H. A. 

1864 — Jan. 5, Potter George L., private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf. wounded while in a rifle pit front of Petersburg, Va., 
June 27, 1864, died July 2, 1864, remains brought home and 
buried; Jan. 5, Priest Rufus G., private, Sauquoit, 117th inf.; 
Pratt Martin, Sauquoit, killed May 5, 1864, at battle of the 
Wilderness. 

1862— Oct. 10, Palmer Homer G., private, Clayville, 146th 
inf ; Packer Thomas, private, Paris (town of) ; Aug. 13, Palmer 
Wirt M., drummer, Paris (town of). 

1861 — April 22, Parker Alpheus, private, Clayville, 14th 
inf ; May 4, Penner Andrew J., Sauquoit, 26th inf. 

1864 — Jan. 20, Piersons Chester, private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf, wounded in hip and arm at battle of Chapin's Farm, 
badly. 

1862— Aug. 12, Quinn Morris, private, Clayville, 117th inf; 
13, Quinn James, private, Clayville, 117th inf, killed at Fort 
Fisher, Jan. 15, 1865. 

1864 — Jan. 2, Royce Albert H., private, Sauquoit, 117th 
inf ; Robinson Richard, Sauquoit, died in hospital. 

1862 — Aug, 13, Robinson Timothy, private, Clayville, 117th 
inf; Robinson John, private, Clayville, 117th inf, discharged 
for disability and died on his way home; 11, Royce Lafayette 
M., private, Sauquoit, 117th inf.; Sept. 5, Randall Austin, 



244 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

private, Clayville, 8th cav., discharged from Belle Plain hos- 
pital for disability; Rogers Samuel, private, Paris, (town of) 
6th cav. 

1803 — Dec. 30, Reed Charles H., private, Paris (town of), 
Scott's 900; 21, Rood Stephen C, private, Clayville, 14th H. 
A., killed July 26, 1864, while on picket duty in front of Pe- 
tersburgh, Virginia. 

1864 — Jan. 5, Royce Eugene, private, Sauquoit, 117th inf ; 
April 8, Riley Francis, private, Paris (town of), 2d H. A. 

1861 — April 22, Ray Leander, private, Clayville, 14th inf ; 
Rhodes Pulaski, private, Paris (town of), 14th inf; Sept. 12, 
Ray Jeremiah B., private, Clayville, 14th inf, discharged for 
disability Jan. 1, 1863, re-enlisted July 2, 1863 in 14th H. A. 

1861 — Rogers Hiram C, brev. brig. -gen., Sauquoit, promo- 
ted from captain of Co. D., 27th inf. ; Rogers Harris G., major, j 
Sauquoit, additional paymaster ; Rogers Horace M., Sauquoit, { 
assistant paymaster. 

1862 — Aug. 12, Stickney M. D., private, Clayville, 117th . 
inf.; July 8, Scott Thomas, private, Clayville, 14th inf;;! 
Stewart George H., private, Paris, 8th cav. ; 25, Sherman j 
Adolphus, fifer, Clayville, 117th inf. ; Sharpe Charles W., j 
private, Clayville, 117th inf ; 24, Sharpe Charles H., sergeant, ■ 
Clayville, 117th inf ; Oct. 10, Smith James J., private, 146th 
inf; Aug. 13, Southworth George F., private, Clayville, 117th 
inf. ; 7, Sawyer John E., musician, Clayville, 117th inf ; Oct. 
10, Sharpe Eugene A., private, Clayville, 146th inf. 

1863 — Dec. 22, Sheldon John, private, Sauquoit, 14th 
heavy art. ; Sheldon John Jr., private, Sauquoit, 14th heavy 
artillery. 

1864 — Jan. 4, Stedman John, private, Clayville, 2d heavy 
artillery. 

1861 — April 22, Sherman William Henry, private Clayville, 
14th inf, wounded. 

1864 — April 12, Smith James, private, Paris, (town of,) 5th 
heavy art.; 9, Sheradon John, private, Paris, (town of,); 
144th inf ; Sweeney John, private, Paris, (town of,) 144th 
inf ; Sept. 3, Stowell James, private, Clayville, 3d light art. ; 
5, Shields Dennis, private, Clayville, 14th heavy art.; 3,' 
Snyder Peter, private, Paris, (town of,) 3d light art. 

1861 — April 22, Scott John, private, Clayville, 14th inf ; 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 245 

Sept. 12, Simmons John, private, Paris, (town of,) lith inf. ; 
Oct. 8, Savage G. Fred, wagoner, Sauquoit, 1st light art. ; 
June 28, Stuart Charles, private, Paris, 71st inf.. Ill, wounded 
May 11, 1864, at Spotts3dvania Court House, Va. 

18(32 — Aug. 40, Smith Chauncy, sergeant, 146th inf., was 
taken prisoner May 5, 1864, at the battle of the Wilderness, 
Va., taken to Andersonville, then to Florence, S. C, thence to 
Wilmington, and while on his way with other prisoners being 
transported to Salisbury prison, and while seated quietly in 
the car, was shot through the breast and instantly killed by 
the rebel guard at the car door, Feb. 18, 1865. The guard 
who so recklessly fired into the car, crowded with unarmed, 
helpless prisoners, gave as an excuse that he supposed they 
were going to try to escape. Sidney Sherman, Sauquoit ; 
29, Teachout Geors^e, private, Sauquoit, 146th inf. ; Oct. 10, 
Turrell Simpson, sergeant maior, Paris, (town of,) 146th inf., 
wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, Va., May 8, 1864, 
taken to hosi>ital at Alexandria, where he died ; July 25, Tir- 
rell Francis 0., private, Clayville, 117th inf. ; 22, Townsend 
Isaac, private, Paris, 117th inf., discharged for disability; Aug. 
13,Tuttle Franklin F., private, Clayville, 117th iuf,dischaiged 
for disability and died in hospital ; 13, Tubbs Edwin E., pri- 
vate, Paris, 117th inf, taken prisoner at Bermuda Hundreds 
while on picket duty, and died in a southern prison ; Oct, 10, 
Timerson John A., private, Paris, 146th inf. ; Aug. 22, 
Thompson Richard, private, Sauquoit, 146th inf 

1863 — Aug. 7, Townsend Charles O., i)rivate, Paris, 8th cav., 
wounded at Beverly Ford, April 15, 1863 ; 7, Townsend Geo. 
W., private, Paris, 8th cav., killed at Boonsboro, Md., July 
8, 1864 ; Dec. 23, Tenny Charles B., private, Clayville, 14th 
heavy art. 

1864— Jan. 1, Thomas Nathan L., private, Clayville, 2d 
heavy art. ; Sept. 1, Townsend Dallas P., private, Sauquoit, 
117th inf 

1861— Sept. 26, Tyler John M., first lieutenant, Clayville, 
2d heavy art. 

1864— Jan. 22, Taylor Theodore W.. private, Sauquoit, 
24th cav. ; Townsend Albert G., private, Paris, 6th inf, Pa., 
died Sept. 6, 1861, in hospital at Tenallytowu, D. C. ; 22, 
Thurston Albert M., private, Sauquoit, 24th cav., taken pris- 



■246 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

oner at Poplar Grove, Va., Sept. 29, 1864, died at Salisbury 
prison, N. C, Dec. 3, 1864, 

1868 — Aug. 30, Varley Abraham, private, Sauquoit, 146th 
inf., transferred to the navy May 3, 1864 ; 26, Van Leanvan 
Jonas, private, Clayville, 146th inf 

1864— Sept. 1, Vanort William, private, Clayville, 101st 
inf ; Vickery John, Sauquoit, died in the service. 

1862— Sept. 3, Wright William, adjt., Sauquoit, 146th inf., 
wounded, lost left arm at the battle of the Wilderness, Va., 
Ma}' 5, 1864 ; Wright Benjamin F., captain, Sauquoit, 146th 
inf ; taken prisoner May 5, 1864, at the battle of the Wilder- 
ness, Va., carried to Macon, Ga.,then to Savannah, and thence^ 
Charleston, S. C, where he was put under fire of our gunss 
bombarding that city, and afterwards taken to Columbia, S. 
C, and was there paroled ; March 1, 1865, was breveted ma- 
jor; Aug. 13, Walter Alonzo H., private, Paris, (town of;) 
July 24, Webster Harrison E., sergeant, Clayville, 117th inf; 
detailed to second medical department ; discharged by general 
order 77, at Wiimington,N. C, May 10, 1865; Ward William 
private, Cassville, 117th inf., died of disease, at Fort Schuyler, 
N. Y. Harbor, Feb. 2, 1864; Aug. 11, Worden Linus D., pri- 
vate, Clayville, 117th inf; 4, Wheeler Edwin A., corporal, 
Cassville, 117th inf ; July 25, Wilcox Madison, private, Cass- 
ville, 117th inf; Oct. 10, White Charles F., private, Paris, 
(town of,) 146th inf ; Aug. 27,Waldron Nelson, private, Clay- 
ville, 146th inf; taken prisoner at the battle of the Wilder- 
ness, Va., May 5, 1864 ; taken to Audersonville prison, where 
he died Aug. 27, 1864, and was buried there. 

1861— April 22, Worden William H., private, Clayville, 14th 
inf ; wounded at Gaines Mills, Va., June 27, 1862, in the left 
leg, below the knee ; was discharged with his regiment. May 
24, 1863; re-enlisted in the 117th regiment, February 29, 
1864 ; was wounded in left hand, in front of Petersburgh,Va., 
July 11, 1864, and discharged Aug. 15, 1865; Wood Abram 
W., private, Clayville, 14th inf 

1864— Sept; 2, Wilcox George H, private, Clayville, 101st 
inf ; Wilcox Z. Townsend, private, Sauquoit, 100th inf ; 
Wicks George C, private, Paris, 50th inf ; Waldron Baxter, 
corporal, Clayville, 100th inf ; Aug. 27, Williams Stafford, pri- 
vate, Clayville, 20th inf 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 247 

1861 — April 17, Wicks Jay Munson, cap^>ain, Paris, 3d inf.; 
wounded Oct. 27, 1864, north of the James, and died Oct. 31, 
1864, and brought home and buried. 

1862 — Nov. 3, Wilson Andrew J., first lieutenant, Sauquoit, 
146th inf.; discharged Jan. 7, 1863 ; July 13, Wicks John B., 
sergeant, Paris, 117th inf.; promoted to sergeant March 1, 
1863 ; to commissary sergeant, 1864. 

DRAFTED MEN AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 

Drafted in 1863 and entered the service: David M. Green, 
Columbus W. Ford, Ambrose H. Miller, Theodore C. Coon, 
Benjamin Cahoon. 

DRAFTED MEN AND THER SUBSTITUTES — 1863. 
Drafted. Substitutes. 

Henry A. Butler, William J. Sitterle, 

Morris Childs, Charles Hilliard, 

John D. Mason, George Shedlac, 

Andrew Smith, Charles H. Mosher. 

DRAFTED MEN AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES — 1864. 
Drafted. Substitutes. 

Norman Merrill, Albert Diappo, 

Morris H. Jones, David Haselton, 

Grove W. Bagg, Charles Haskell, 

Crawford Throop, Thomas Glenn, 

Edward Miller, Adolph Miller, 

Amasa L. Kilbourn, James Patterson. 

Foreign enlistments to the credit of the town of Paris, to 
till her quota on call of July 19, 1864, procured by F. S. Sav- 
^ge, supervisor, and mustered in Jan. and Feb., 1865, each 
being paid .'S7()0 bounty : Reuben Stalham, A. Ringe, Wm. 
Colby, Abrain Stockfort, Michael Cain, Stephen Jackson, 
Thomas French, Charles Bond, John Pattern, John Beardon, 
Thomas W. Goran, Edward Smith, Thomas Dow, Samuel 
Burnett, George C. Stillwell, John Parkson, Joseph P. 0. 
Lewis, Patrick McCarthy, John O'Neil, Theodore Stell, J. J. 
Moon, William Henry, John Gorham, William North, John 
Smith, John Dorney, David Sorney. Total, 27, at $700, 
$18,900.00. 



248 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 



RECAPITULATION. 



3d Infantry, 



14th do. or 1st Oneida, 26 

15th do. 1 

20th do. 4 

26th do. or 2d Oneida, 1 

27th do. I 

50th do. 1 

86th do. 1 

97th do. 3 

100th do. 8 



101st do. 



117th do. 92 

121st do. 1 

144th do. 4 

146th do. or 4th Oneida, 41 

2 
6 



Engaged in battles of Gaines 
Mills, Hanover C. H., Malvern 
Hill, Fredericksburg and Chan- 
cellorsville. 



In battles of Seven Pines,. 
Peach Orchard, Savage Station,. 
Chickahominy, White Oak 
■{ Swamp, Charles City Cross- 
Roads, Malvern Hill, Groveton,. 
Second Bull Run,Chantilly and 
Fredericksbursf. 



Scott's 900 
6th ( avalry, 

8th do. 



Total Infantry, 



187 



Antietam, Beverly Ford, 
Middleville, Gettysburg, 
9 -^ VVilliamsport,FunksTown, 
Falling Waters and Bran- 
dy Plains. 



15th do. 2 

24th do. ' 2 Total Cavalry, 

1st Lt. Art., Bates' Bat. 6 
3d do. 8 Total L. A., 

2d Heav}' Artillery, 15 
4th do. 2 

5 th do. 2 

6th do. 1 

14th do. 14 Total H. A., 

50th N. Y. Engineers, 1 
Unknown and from | ^^ 
other States. f ^^ 

Total from Town of Paris, 
Men who were paid bounty to fill quota, 
Total killed or died from wounds or disease, 



19 



14 



34 
1 

20 



275> 
27' 
38. 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 249- 

Interesting Account of the Saving of the Day at Oettysburgh, hy the 14l)^A 
{Monroe Go.) and the 14G<A {Jith Oneida) Regiynents. In the latter loere 
most of the Sauquoit Boys who so gallantly went to the front. The mag' 
nificent recerd of the lllth {4th Oneida) Regiment, of which Company 
"G" made up of Glayi4Ue Boys, on every bloody f eld icon distinction. 

Some recent discussions in relation to the battle of Gettys- 
burgh have brought out the very important fact that two 
New York regiments of volunteers — the 14)6th from Oneida 
county, and the liOth from Monroe county — turned the tide 
and saved the day in that most critical battle of the last war. 
The facts may be briefly recounted. The battle of Gettys- 
burgh began on the first of July, 1863. General John F. 
Reynolds, in command of the first and eleventh corps, made 
the advance. General James S. Wadsworth commanded the 
division which dislodged the Confederates from their position. 
Reynolds pressed forward, and early in the afternoon was 
killed by a sharpshooter. Later in the day the Confederates 
rallied, drove back the Union troops, recovered their lost 
ground, and demoralized (not for the first time) the eleventh 
corps. On the second of July, a great, but indecisive, battle 
occurred. The enemy gained advantage in every direction 
but one. Lee had made .sad havoc with our right and centre. 
If he could drive back our left wing and seize the point 
known as Round Top, he would hold the key to the situation. 
It was here that he failed ; and, according to the recent state- 
ment of General G. K. Warren, his failure was due to the 
trusty gallantry of the brigade which contained the l^-Gth 
and 14()th regiments of New York volunteers. General 
Sickles, whose left should have defended Round Top, had ad- 
vanced half a mile beyond the position assigned him, thus 
breaking our line. He was about to withdraw to a safer 
place, when he was impetuously attacked, and his corps was 
driven back in great confusion, and with terrible loss. In the 
demoralization resulting from Sickles' retreat, it seemed easy 
to dislodge the Union troops from Round Top. General War- 
ren describes how he made his observations from that point, 
and how essential it was to hold the hill. In Greeley's 
"American Conflict" the fact is set forth that "Meade regarded 
Round Top as vital to the maintenance of our position." 
When the two New York regiments were thrown forward to 



250 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

hold this most important position, the very fate of the battle 
depended on their coolness and courage. General Warren 
testifies that their conduct was superb, and that through their 
bravery the Confederate advance was stayed, and the day's 
work, ended in a drawn battle. He does not tell how great 
his influence was on these heroes. But it ought to be added, 
that he had been their commander almost up to the time of 
the battle, and every veteran who knew Warren in the war, 
will agree with us that the inspiration of his presence was 
Worth a thousand men in a hot fight. It takes so long to sift 
«,nd arrange the facts of history — particularly the history of 
wars — -that even now, after the lapse of sixteen years, many 
■citizens of Oneida county will be surprised to learn what a 
prominent part one of our regiments took in the greatest bat- 
tle of the civil war. The 146th regiment was commanded at 
Gettysburgh by Colonel Kenner Garrard, whose services that 
day won him a Brigadier General's stars. He was succeeded 
by Colonel David T. Jenkins, who was killed in action at the 
Wilderness. The next commander was Colonel James G. 
Grindlay, brevet Brigadier General of U. S. Volunteers, under 
whom the regiment was mustered out after the war ended. 
Among the other officers of the regiment were Henry H. Car- 
ran, Peter Claesgens, Joseph S. Lowery, Charles B. Button, 
Charles L. Buckingham, and other well-known or well-remem- 
bered Uticans. In the l-iObh regiment, Mayor John Buckley 
served with distinguished credit. 

The 146th (5th Oneida) was afterwards badly cut up — loss 
400 — and many of our brave Sauquoit boys killed, wounded, 
or taken prisoners, at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 
1864. The following is the list of battles in which the 146th 
regiment was engaged, and which, by order of the War De- 
partment, were allowed to be inscribed upon its banners: 
Fredericksburgh, Chancellorsville, Gettysburgh, Rappahan- 
nock Station, Bristow Station, Mine Run, Williamsport. Wap- 
ping Heights, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Laurel Hill, North 
Anna, Tolopotomy, Bethsaida Church, Petersburgh, Weldon 
Railroad, Chappel House, Hatch's Run, Hick's Ford, White 
Oak Road, Five Forks, Appomattox Court House, (Lee's sur- 
render.) Total, 22. 



SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION. 251 

The 117th regiment, (4th Oneida,) of which Conapany "G" 
was almost wholly made up of Clayville boys, won a noble 
record on many a well-fought field. Its prominent battles, 
and losses, are as follows : Drury's Bluff, May, 1864. 81 ; 
taking of Petersburgh Heights, June 15, 1864, 24; siege of 
Petersburgh, 132; Chapin's Farm, Sept. 29, 1864, 130; Dar- 
bytown Road, Oct. 27, 1864, 52 ; Fort Fisher. Jan. 15, 1865, 
95. The 117th left home with 1,020 men, and returned with 
only 315. 

Note. — " General Warren was on the top of the Little 
Round Top with some signal men, when Vincent's and Weed's 
brigades were ordered to the position. Vincent opened the way 
for Hazlett's battery to make its wonderful climb among the rocks, 
while Weed advanced from the glen below. When O'Rourke's 
regiment began struggling up the loose rubble, of which the 
face of the hill is composed, the men found themselves op- 
posed by a considerable force of the enemy, who had already 
•clambered along from the left of the Federal line. A sharp 
fight ensued, and the Colonel lost his life. The 146th New 
York, under Garrard, followed the 140th, and also found a few 
riHemen posted on the hill, and they, being unable to escape, 
died, or were wounded, at their posts." 

" Had the two brigades been in any way delayed in their 
advance to General Warren's support, that distinguished offi- 
cer might possibly have been taken prisoner. It is an inter- 
esting fact that Gettysburgh was for the 140th and 146th 
infantry of New York, their first great battle ; neither com- 
mand having before seen more than the fringe of a general 
engagement. They belonged to a brigade which had been, 
up to a few weeks before, commanded by General Warren, 
and it was the belief that that old brigadier was leading the 
assault, (for after all that was what it amounted to,} which 
gave the men additional courage and order." 



252 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

GEN. HIRAM C. ROGERS — A SAUQUOIT BOY'S RECORD IN THE 
"GREAT REBELLION." 

At the breaking out of the Rebellion the subject of this 
sketch was employed as paying teller of the Bank of Bing- 
ham ton. When the news of the firing on Fort Surapter was 
flashed over the country, he at once volunteered his services 
and raised the first company from Broome county, was unani- 
mously elected captain and ordered to the rendezvous at 
Elmira, where he united his company with others, and formed 
the 27th Regiment N. Y. Volunteers. When the question of 
selecting officers for the regiment came up. Captain Rogers 
insisted upon having an educated soldier for colonel, and was 
largely instrumental in securing the election of Henry W. 
Slocum to that position, and the subsequent brilliant career 
of that officer fully confirmed the wisdom of the selection. 
The regiment was organized and mustered into the United 
States service, May 21, 1861, and reached Washington just in 
time to join the army of General McDowell, then on its march 
to Manassas, and to participate in the battle of Bull Run, 
July 21, 1861. In this engagement the regiment sutfered 
severely. Colonel Slocum was shot through the thigh and 
carried off the field. Captain Rogers was wounded, his second 
lieutenant and eight men killed and fourteen others wounded, 
comprising nearly one-third of his company. On the retreat 
that night, upon arriving at Centerville, being the senior 
officer present, he assumed command of the regiment, and also 
at the request of Major Sykes, of the regular army, took 
charge of a battery of artillery and conducted it safely to 
Washington. For this, and his gallant conduct at Bull Run, 
he received honorable mention in the official report of Gen. 
Porter. In November, 1861, Captain Rogers was appointed 
by General McClellan, Judge Advocate of a general court 
martial of Franklin's division Among the cases tried by this 
court, was one for desertion to the enemy, in which the ac- 
cused was found guilty and shot in the presence of the entir e 
division. This was the first execution for desertion in the 
Army of the Potomac. For this service Captain Rogers re- 
ceived the personal commendation of the Commanding Gen- 
eral. In January, 1862, he was appointed by President 



GEN. HIRAM C. ROGERS. 253 

Lincoln, Assistant Adjutant General, with the rank of captain 
and assigned to duty on the staff of General Slocum, then 
commanding the first brigade of Franklin's division. Was 
present at the siege of Yorktown, the battle of West Point 
and all of the battles of the Peninsula campaign, Mechanics- 
ville, Gaines Mills, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Charles City 
Cross Roads, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. Was 
promoted to Major, July 4, 1862. On the 14th of August the 
army left Harrison's Landing en route to Alexandria to join 
Pope in his memorable campaign. General Slocum was then 
in command of the first division. Franklin's (6th) corps and 
Major Rogers was with him at the second Bull Run or Man- 
assas, fighting over nearly the same ground where he first saw 
war in earnest and with nearly the same results, viz : a hur- 
ried retreat to Washington. 

On the 4th of September, the Army of the Potomac was 
again placed under the command of its favorite leader, 
General McClellan, and immediately started in pursuit of the 
enemy, who had already crossed the upper Potomac and 
invaded Maryland. On the 14th, Franklin's corps being on 
the left of the army, encountered the enemy strongly posted 
in Crampton's Gap, South Mountain. General Slocum was 
ordered to attack with his division, and after a sanguinary 
conflict, which lasted until dark, succeeded in drivino- the 
enemy up and over the mountain into the valley beyond, 
capturing several guns and a large number of prisoners. The 
division bivouacked on the field of battle that night, and on 
the following morning joined the main armj- in ])ursuit of 
the enemy. 

On the I7th occurred the memorable battle of Antietam, 
which resulted in the defeat of the rebel army and its retreat 
across the Potomac into Virginia, which was effected under 
cover of darkness on the night of the ISth. During this bat- 
tle Major Rogers was sent into the enemy's lines with a flag 
of truce, in answer to a communication received from them in 
relation to removing the wounded that lay between the 
armies, and though no official consent was ever received for 
their removal, yet during the delay occasioned by the messen- 
gers not readily finding General Lee, the object was accom- 
plished before Major Rogers' return and the renewal of hostil- 



254 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ities. Soon after the battle of Antietam, Maj.-Gen. Slocum 
having been placed in command of the 12th army corps. 
Major Rogers was promoted to Lieut. Colonel, and assigned 
to duty with him as Assistant Adjutant General and Chief of 
Staff. The corps was stationed for some time at Harper's 
Ferry, but rejoined the Army of the Potomac at Stafford C. 
H., Va., soon alter the battle of Fredericksburgh, and remained 
there in winter quarters until the spring of 1863. At the 
battle of Chancellorsville, May 1st, 2d and 3d, the corps was 
hotly engaged, and again two months later at Gettysburg on 
July 1st, 2d and 3d. In both of these battles Colonel Rogers 
served with distinction, and won the highest praise of his 
commanding officers for his gallantry and good conduct. In 
the early part of November, 1863, soon after the disaster to 
Rosecrans' army at Chickamauga, the corps was ordered west 
to join the Army of the Cumberland, and occupied the line of 
the railroad from Murfreesboro, Tenn., to Chattanooga, and 
remained there during the winter. Upon the consolidation 
of the 11th and 12th corps. General Slocum was assigned to 
the command of the District of Vicksburg in the spring of 
1864-. Colonel Rogers went with him and remained on duty 
there until October, 1864. General Slocum had in the mean- 
time been assigned to the command of the 20th corps, and 
after the capture of Atlanta, Colonel Rogers rejoined him. 
Then came Sherman's famous " march to the sea." General 
Slocum was appointed to command the army of Georgia, con- 
sisting of the 14th and 20th corps, and Colonel Rogers was 
assigned to duty as Assistant Adjutant General and Chief of 
Staff. On the evening of the 15th of November, 1864, the 
torch was applied to the storehouses and public buildings of 
Atlanta, and by the light of the conflagration the troops 
marched out of that ill-fated city, and went into camp for the 
ni2;ht. On the morning of the 16th, all that was valuable of 
the city lay in ashes, and the whole army moved eastward in 
four columns. The incidents of that march are too well 
known to require any mention here. The soldiers lived most- 
ly on turkey and preserves, and arrived before Savannah in 
good condition on £he 10th of December. On the 16th Colonel 
Rogers accompanied Colonel Ewing, of General Sherman's 
staff, who was sent with a flag of truce to the enemy's lines 



GEN. HIRAM C. ROGERS. 25a 

to demand the surrender of the city. The officers of General 
Hardee's staff who received the dispatch, were dressed in new 
and elegant uniforms, foreign made top boots, and white 
gloves, and presented quite a contrast to our officers, who had 
been on the march for a month, with no means or opportunity 
to "dress up." Upon being questioned on the subject, they 
admitted with evident satisfaction, that they had just received 
these things from a " blockade runner" that had arrived only 
a few days before. Whereupon both parties " drank from 
the same canteen," and separated, destined not to meet again; 
for on the night of the 20th the enemy evacuated the city, 
and early on the morning of the 21st of December, Sherman 
and his army entered Savannah. 

Soon after the capture of Savannah Colonel Rogers was 
promoted to Brevet Brigadier General, for gallant and merito- 
rious services, and on January 31st, 1865, after nearly four 
years continuous service in the field, he received an honor-, 
able discharge and returned to civil life. It may be said of 
him, and greatly to his credit, that he was never absent from 
any battle in which his corps was engaged, and the list of 
battles he is entitled to wear on his badge, embraces every 
one of the Army of the Potomac (save Fredericksburgh) 
from Bull Run to Gettysburg — and in the west from Atlanta 
to the sea. His gallantry in action and strict attention to 
duty in camp, won the confidence and respect of his superiors, 
and his gentlemanly deportment and amiable disposition, 
made him a favorite with all. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OLD PEOPLE OF SAUQUOIT — A LIST COMPILED BY HON. ELI 
AVERY, OCTOBER 10, 1871. 

Darius Dunham, 81 years 3 months; Z. Townscnd, 89 
years 2 months ; Francis Truman, 87 years 6 months; Mrs. 
Daniel Wells, 70 years; Mrs. Sylvester Nichols, 75 years; 
Zabiue Luce, 76 years 10 months ; Mrs. Polly Luce, 72 years ; 
Levi Birdseye, 77 years 8 months ; Mrs. Levi Birdseye, 74 
years 8 months ; Doctor L. Bishop, 80 years 3 months ; Ann 
Pride, 77 years 2 months ; Sophia Pride, 72 years 6 months ; 
Richard Brown, 70 years; Mrs. Richard Brown, 70 years; 
Calvin Kellogg, 77 years 9 months ; Mrs. Calvin Kellogg, 72 
years 1 month; Theodore Sanford, 71 years; Mrs. Theodore 
Sanford, 71 j^ears ; Mrs. Coleman, 81 years; Hiram Kellogg, 
71 years; Thomas L. Switzer, 76 years 6 mouths; Mrs. 
Thomas L. Switzer, 75 j^ears 5 months; Camp Griffin, 73 
years; Marietta Winship, 81 years; Axia Goddard, 77 years 
9 months ; John King, 81 years 7 months ; Daniel Blackman, 
71 years 3 months; Mrs. Daniel Blackman, 72 years; Mrs. 
Sarah Rice, 87 years 8 months ; Levi Goodsell, 84 years 4 
months ; Robert Griffin, 85 years ; William Talbot, 77 years ; 
Mrs. William Talbot, 72 years; Mrs. Randall, 83 years; 
Nancy Corbett, 89 years 6 months — 35 i)ersons — total age 
2,704 years 5 months; average 77 3-12 years. At that time 
all of them in ordinary good health ; some of them, however, 
have since passed away. At the present writing, the oldest 
person in town is Captain Asahel Dexter, a veteran of 1812, 
hale and hearty, in his 94th year, residing near Cassville. 
There are several married couples in town who have lived 
together more than 50 years. At Sauquoit : Calvin E. and 
Luciuda Macomber, 52 years ; Solomon and Harriet Eogers, 
53 years; Theodore C. and Rosanna Gilbert, 54 years; John 
and Nancy Ann Goodier, 60 years. At Paris Hill, John 
Bailey and his wife have just celebrated their "golden 
wedding" — 50 years. 



CHAPTER XXIIT. 

A MYSTERY THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED. 

Henry Crane, senior, although not a pioneer, was an early- 
settler near East Sauquoit, in the GrifRn neighborhood, and 
soon afterward removed to the village and started a country 
store, his being the second store established there (Martin Haw- 
ley was the first merchant) at " Bethelville." He died a few 
years later, leaving a handsome competence to his son Henry, 
who became a large land-owner. To his farm-homestead, now 
owned and occupied by Thomas Garlick, on the opposite side 
of the road, north of the M. E. Church, was attached a wing 
on the west end — long since removed — which for many years 
did duty as a bar-room, and where Uncle Henry dispensed 
the various fluids then deemed an essential necessary to the 
arduous task of building up a village, and energetically devel- 
oping its various industrial undertakings. The bar was a 
formidable looking affair, occupying the north side of the 
wing, and was protected by a chevaux-de-frise arrangement 
of round pickets extending nearly to the ceiling, a section of 
which, however, directly over the bar proper, was so con- 
structed, as to swing up like a portcullis, for business, thus 
opening the mouth of the bar much as Baalam's ass opened 
his mouth at the sight of an angel, the angel, however, in this 
case being gold or silver. One morning in the fall of 1829, 
as the shades of night gave promise of giving birth to day, 
trending their anxious steps towards this Mecca of their de- 
sires, might have been seen many of the villagers (as was 
then the custom) dripping with the hurried moisture of the 
cold foggy morning, wet outside but dry within, enter one by 
one, and after halting a moment to catch the warmth of the 
capacious glowing fire-place, advance boldly up to the 
yawning mouth of this average " Reformer's " hell, and, per- 
haps, trembling throughout with fear, order their customary 
morning bitters. They were " the early birds that caught 
the (fruit of the) worm." They were steady, industrious vil- 



i 



258 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

lagars, mechanics, etc., attending strictly to their duties dur- 
ing business hours, but who from long custom deemed it 
necessary to take this morning walk, an appetizer for their 
breakfast that was even now being prepared by their help- 
meet over the fire which they had kindled before calling her. 
The tempting warmth of the fire-place, together with the for- 
bidding gloom without, delayed the homeward departure of 
quite a number, who, halting between the desire and the pro- 
priety of taking another " nipper," all at once were aroused 
by a late arrival, who announced to them that there was 
something unusual and strange in the appearance of the old 
church-spire opposite. A general exit to the piazza, followed 
by a careful observation, discovered that there was something 
crowning the very top of the spire ; what it was could not be 
discerned. It looked " very like a whale," but might be a 
huge bird, as nothing without wings could attain such a 
height. The rising sun ere long put an end to the discussion, 
lifting the fog and dissipating the vapors, revealing to the 
wondering beholders, not a whale, but a wheel. Perched on 
the vertex of the spire, the accumulated drops of moisture on 
the vermilion spokes, the glistening brightness of the well- 
worn tire, under the slanting rays of the morning sun, 
sparkled and glowed like a thousand gems, as of a crown of 
glory for the sombre old church edifice; like a disk, impaled 
on the spire, was somebody's wagon wheel. But whose, and 
how did it get there ? The first burst of astonishment was 
soon merged into mirth at the " tall" joke on some one, 
" Uncle" Henry heartily joining in the uproarious laughter 
But alas for all earthly joys ! They are so evanescent. The 
chasm of grief was even then about to open. and swallow up 
his hilarity. At that very moment one of his boys appeared 
on the scene and announced to him that his best wagon, 
under the shed, was careening on three wheels, and where the 
" off " hind wheel should be, was only a tarred axle and a 
lonelj' linch-pin, at which stunning news he lauofhed out of the 
other corner of his mouth, and now fairly glowing with rage^ 
vowed that the extent of the law should be inflicted on the 
ofi'enders. Among the villagers, who by this time had gath- 
ered to see the sight, was the venerable and respected Justice 
'Squire Curtiss, to whom he appealed. The cautious old 



AN UNSOLVED MYSTEUV. 259 

^Squire assured him of his willingness to brinir the offenders to 
justice, and if the crime was not actually burglary or robber}^ 
it was at least malicious mischief, and was certainly punish- 
able — at the same time gently reminding him to first "catch 
the hare" before looking up the recipe of how to cook it. and 
advised him to offer a reward, which advice was at once fol- 
lowed. As the day wore on, it brought the usual number of 
travelers to the village, as well as the farmers to the mill, the 
stores and the shops, all of whom halted at the inn, and while 
refreshing the inner man, inquired about the going topic, until 
the word wagon-wheel became positively odious to the old 
man, and contrary to sacred advice he permitted the sun to go 
<lown on his wrath. Another day's repetition of the annoy- 
ance satisfying him of the futility of the offered reward, he 
"gave in," and gave out to the usual bar-room audience that 
■*' if the boys would take down the wheel and restore it to him, 
he would stanjd treat." The question was raised and dis- 
cussed, that if any accepted his proposition and took the 
wheel down, it would be charged that they alone knew how 
it was placed there and weie the guilty ones, but it was finally 
agreed that it should not thus operate and the boys consulted 
as to whom should undertake it. From among the youno- 
men of those da3^s, prominent in their reckless daring in 
going aloft on the timbers at the raisings, and noted for their 
skill and strength at wrestling, and the other athletic games 
of that period, six were selected to make the attempt, viz 
Ami Andrus, Daniel Wells, George H. Knight, Sid and Hen 
■Campbell and Harry Cooley. But they would not consent to 
■do the job until the following Saturda}- afternoon — three days 
-more of agony for Uncle Henry — that being, in those days, a 
generally observed half-holiday for farmers' boys, apprentices 
;and school-boys, and at that time they could be spared from 
their usual avocations. 

The news spread rapidly in the neighborhood, and when the 
appointed time arrived, a large crowd assembled to witness 
the daring exploit. The young men were promptly on hand, 
but when it was found that they had not provided themselves 
with tackle-blocks, or material for stagings, &c., some of the 
•older heads endeavored to dissuade them from their mad at- 
tempt, and propo.sed to start a subscription and have carpen- 



260 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ters erect stagings, and thus safely accomplish the object, but 
all to no effect. They had set out to do it, considered their 
honor at stake, and would listen to no modification of their 
plan. So the old sexton unlocked the door to the porch, they 
passed in, and the door closing behind them, was again locked 
to prevent any of the assemblage interfering. Ere long, far 
up in the open tower, where the ponderous old bell swung to 
and fro, the scuttle of the bell-deck was flung up, and one 
after another emerged, until the whole six stood in view. 
Above the bell-tower, and supported by four corner posts, was 
the roof, from which sprung the conical spire some twelve feet 
hic^h, a narrow ledge of inclined roof around the base of the 
spire, near the outer edge of which was a balustrade, the 
clumsy proportions of the whole of which excited the criti- 
cism of " the committee of 47," who dubbed it the " sheep- 
pen." To this roof there was no scuttle, access to which 
could, therefore, only be obtained from the optside. Two of 
the athletes promptly stepped out on the projecting ledge of 
the bell-deck, and, while clinging to the corner post, Daniel 
Wells, the giant young blacksmith, joined them, when, in a 
twinkling, to the horror of the spectators far below, he was 
seized by the other three and hoisted up on the shoulders of 
the two clinging to the post, while at the same time he grasped 
the balustrade above with his powerful hands, and, with 
mighty strength of arras, raised himself to the upper roof and 
over the balustrade. In another instant Ami -Andrus was 
hoisted in the same manner to the shoulders of the two. 
Wells reached over, grsped his hand with his giant grip, and 
in a breath they stood side by side on the narrow fringe of the 
roof, scarce twenty inches wide, at the base of the spire at 
that giddy height. Wheeling suddenly around, Daniel em- 
braced the spire with his brawny arms — he could not encircle 
it — at the same time bracing himself firmly, when Ami, with, 
the skill and agility a professional acrobat might envy, made 
the ascent to his broad shoulders, stood erect, his arms encir- 
cling the smaller portion of the spire and in reach of the 
coveted wheel. Pausing scarce an instant to take breath and 
brace his nerves for the crowning eflfort, he released his right 
hand and reaching aloft grasped firmly one of the spokes of 
the wheel near the hub, and pushing up, slowly raised it \ 



I 



AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY. 261 



nearly off, cantinor it over to the right, but still with the ex- 
treme portion of the hub hanging on the apex of the spire. 
Now came the critical time. Any lack of nerve, dizziness, or 
miscalculation of balance with the weight of the wheel in his 
right hand, and certain death awaited them both, dashed to 
mangled pulp far below. With a caution to his comrade be- 
neath him of "All ready !" he carefully released the wheel 
and with Herculean strength, at arms length, swung it slid- 
ingly down the spire, and when within reach, Daniel grasped 
it and in like manner slid it to the narrow roof, leaning it 
against the spire, which they both again grasped, to rest a 
moment for another trying ordeal. For Ami to get down was 
a far more difficult feat than to get up there. Holding fast he 
slid his hands lower down the spire and knelt on his compan- 
ion's shoulders, then quickly releasing his right hand, with 
which he quickly reached down and seized Daniel's head, thus 
steadying his balance, he, with an adroit movement, seated 
himself astride of Daniel's left shoulder, who at the same time 
released his left hand from the spire and Ami slid gently and 
safely to his footing on the narrow sloping roof Seizing the 
wheel, they passed it over the balustrade down to their com- 
panions below, who landed it on the bell-deck. Ami was next 
passed down, and then the young blacksmith swung himself 
over, and soon all stood safe in the old bell-tower. The whole 
transaction of this perilous feat, so promptly executed, had 
consumed but a few moments, but it seemed an age to the 
awe-stricken audience below, who, with bated breath, trans- 
fixed with the fear of an impending horror, had in bieathless 
silence marked every detail. An instant elapsed ere they 
fully realized that the boys were safe, and then at first a low 
murmur, a tiuttering of handkerchiefs, clapping of hands, and 
soon cheer u})on cheer came surging up to the ears of those 
mad-caps in the belfry, like the roar of a mighty tempest. 
All but Daniel and Ami immediately descended, while they 
pulled the bell- rope up from below, and attaching it to the 
wagon- wheel (which was too large to go through the scuttle,) 
they launched it over the outside ledge of the bell deck, it m 
its descent swinging to and fro like a vast pendulum front of 
the old chuich tower. It was finally reached by the four be- 
• low, who detached the rope, which was hauled up and re- 



262 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

placed, and theu the two heroes of the hour, Daniel Wells and 
Ami Andrus, descended safely to earth, and were again and 
again greeted with prolonged shouts of welcome. The agony- 
was over, but to many who witnessed that perilous scene it 
was the nightmare of a lifetime. Bearing aloft on their 
brawny shoulders the rescued wheel, the daring six marched 
across the village green to the inn, where they were met at 
the piazza by Uncle Henry, who, with a glass in one hand 
and a decanter partially filled with whisky in the other, 
proffered them the promised treat, the inadequacy of which, 
both as to quality and quantity, to fulfill the contract was ap- 
parent, and consequently declined. After some parley, the 
old man refusing to yield more, they raised the wheel in pa- 
lanquin style, and with George H. Knight seated on the hub, 
playing on the bugle the national airs, followed by quite a. 
procession, marched in triumph to West Sauquoit, where they 
pledged the wheel at the old " Savage Stand" for an adequate 
supp'y of the"oh-be-joyful." 

The next 3'ear Ami Andrus, having sowed his wild oats, be- 
came converted under the ministration of Rev. Alex Irvine, 
during his great revival, and joined the M. E. Church, proving 
as active and enthusiastic inside as he had formerly outside 
and on top of the church. They all in a few year.^ scattered 
to different parts of the country, except Daniel Wells, who at 
manhood settled down and carried on his blacksmith shop at 
Bast Sauquoit for many long years, noted for his honesty and 
integrit}', retiring from business some time since in ill health, 
his iron constitution battling with disease for years, at last 
yielded to the " grim monster," and at an advanced age he 
went to his rest, a year, or two since, respected by all, and 
without an enemy. The old inn-keeper, Henry Crane, soon 
after closed his bar and devoted his remaining years to farm- 
ing, and passed awa}^ August 13, 1850, aged 09. Who put 
the wagon wheel on the old church-spire is still a mystery, 
and few, very few, are left of that large assemblage who saw 
it so daringly and skillfully taken down. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SAGHDAQUEDA LODGE, NO. 209, I. O. G. T. 

The lodge was organized at a temperance meeting iield in 
the Presbyterian church at Sauquoit, by W. L. Hurlburt, with 
thirty-three charter members, April, 22, 1867 : R. Seymour, 
Ed. R. Gilson, Nathan Boyd, Merrit Buuce, Albert S. Newton, 
Perine D. Matteson, Stephen G. Savage, John J. Brownell, E. 
C. Campbell, C. H. Blakeslee, G. M. Gray, H. A. Head, B. F. 
Wright, D. W. Maltby, Eugene Royce, H. D. Brownell, F. 
Gorton, Henry Dexter, H. A. Butlei", R. D. Richards, W. S. 
Stillwell; Mrs. C. G. Brownell, Mrs. F. Gorton, Mrs. H. Dex- 
ter; Misses E. L. Brownell, Kate L. Seaton, Libbie Savage, 
Ettie Rogers, Hattie E. Rogers, C. E. Royce, Libbie M. Sey- 
mour, Kate Savage, ami Mary Head. 

First Worthy Chiep—S. G. Savage, D. W. Maltby, H. D. 
Brownell, E. B. Parsons, Gardner Avery, George Gray, C. E. 
Campbell, R. D. Richards, E. Nichols, R. Barnes, James Cole. 

Number of names on record since organization, 477. 

The lodge tirst held its meecings in the select school room, 
in the chamber of the old district school hou.se at East Sau- 
quoit, and afterwards at Masonic Hall at West Sauquoit, but 
finally erected a tidy building for their hall, on the south side 
of Mill street, a few rods east of the Franklin factory yard, 
where they have since held their meetings, festivals, and va- 
rious entertainments. 



SAUQUOIT GRANGE OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY, NO. 415. 
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

The Grange was organized February 22d, 1877, by Deputy 
M.W. Bigelow and O. B. Gridley,of VVaterville,who appointed 
the first officers. The following were the charter members : 

Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Porter, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Calhoun, Mr. 
and Mrs. C. H Blackstone, Mr. and Mrs. George D. Dunham, 
Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Wicks, Mr. 



k 



-264 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

and Mrs. M. Birdseye ; Messrs. Frank Bowers, Peleg Goodier, 
Antoin Raslen ; Misses Martha Calhoun, Hattie E. Rocrers, 
Kate Savage, Libbie Savage. 

Masters— J. M. Porter, D. C. Addington. 

In addition to the above, other members are : 

Mrs. D. C. Addington, M. Townsend, Mrs. Quinn, Mr. and 

Mrs. J. B. Gough, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Gallup, Mr. and Mrs. G. 

M. Hecox, Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Prior, Mr. and Mrs. W. W. 

Thurston, Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Day, Mr. and Mrs. S. G. Savage. 

Messrs. A. H. Allport, E. C. Birdseye, E. D. Brownell, A. W. 

Comstock, O. L. Dunsmore, J. B. Holmes, M. E. Neal, J. V. H. 

Scovil, G.' B. Smith, A. R. Thompson, M. Wooley ; Misses 

Mary Birdseye, Lottie Calhoun, Mary Head. 

They hold their meetings in the lodge room of Masonic 

Hall at West Sauquoit.as well as their festivals and entertain- 
ments. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

HOLMAN CITY — (LOG CITY.) 



Holman City was the third settlement in the town of Paris, 
and is situated in a deep ravine in the east part of the town, 
nestling among the towering pinnacles east of Clayville, 1,100 
feet above the level of the sea, and was called by the early 
settlers "Log City," from the number of log houses there lo- 
cated, and bore that name until about the year 1840, when it 
gradually came to be known as Holman City, taking the lat- 
ter name from the Holman family, who were early prominent 
settlers there. The beautiful trout brook that flows down 
through the village went by the name of the City brook, al- 
luding to Log City, but of late it has come to be known as 
Holman brook. Its entire length is about two miles. Burst- 
ing from the hill-side well up towards the " Dry-lots," is the 
famous " Thompson spring," from which the brook tumbles 



HOLMAN CITY. 205 

tumultuously down the steep declivity, another brook tum- 
bling in on the way, which takes its rise near John Goodier's, 
and at the foot of the hill it is joined by a third brook, from 
the "Blue spring," and thence emerging from the upper ravine, 
a fourth brook comes tumbling over a blutf of " horse-bone" 
formation in a sheer fall of some 15 feet, and further down 
two more little rivulets pour in before crossing the road and 
flowing into the ])ond at the head of the village, all fed by 
uever-failing, living springs; thence along down through the 
little village in the narrow ravine, in a succession of cascades 
(formerly, and before they were hidden by the dams for water 
powers) and flowing on through the broader meadows along 
past the east side of the Valley Cemetery, unites with the 
Sauquoit Creek at South Sauquoit or Upper Paper Mills, fall- 
ing nearly 300 feet. It is the most important tributary of the 
Sauquoit, as being fed by springs, it furnishes an unceasing 
flow of water into the creek. The fiist to utilize the power 
which its great "fall" furnishes, was Seth Leonard Cutler, the 
pioneer of the village, who settled here in 1798, and ei-ected a 
small shop, with a lathe for turning wooden bowls, his estab- 
lishment being known by the early settleis as the " dish mill.' 
He turned the bowls from the large knobs that were found 
protruding from the sides of the trees, here and there in the 
primitive forest, which were saved for him by those clearing 
the land. He turned them into " nests," the largest side of the 
knobs making a large bowl and so on, smaller and smaller inside, 
down to a tiny salt-bowl. Mrs. Solomon Rogers has one of 
the first that he turned, some eighty years ago, (a present from 
her father, Theodore Gilbert,) which is rather more than two 
feet across and some nine inches in depth, the grain ot the 
wood twisted and gnarled like " curly maf)le." Cutler also 
worked at the carpenter's trade, and assisted in the building 
of the Methodist Church at East Sauquoit, in 1801, and some 
years later moved away. Lenthel Eells afterwards had a saw 
mill on the site of Cutler's second " dish mill," a half mile be- 
low the village, and now operated as a factory for turning 
hubs and for job work, by J. B. Davis and his son I. E. Davis. 
Mr. Eells was an early settler and a prominent member of the 
Presbyterian Church, and one of the first members of old 
Paris Lodge, F. & A. M., at its organization, and died some 



266 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

years since; his wife (now dead) survived him many years, 
living in the old homestead. His grandson, Lenthel S. Davis, 
whom he received into his family when a child, and whom 
he loved as a sou, went to Waterbury, Conn., many years ago, 
where he still resides, prominently connected with the '• Sco- 
vill Manufacturing Company," being at the head of the button 
department. 

David Holmau, Jr., came here in 1812, and purchased Cut- 
ler's power, and erected a giist-mill, saw-mill, and a little 
below, later on, a clover-mill — the latter being afterwards 
converted into a distillery by George Mix and Joseph Howe. 
The grist-mill, besides doing a custom business, ground the 
grain for the distillery, which used annually nearly 12,000 
bushels of grain. George Briggs, son of Lieutenant Spencer 
Briggs, run the distillery for many years, and until it was 
destroyed by fire, when he afterwards removed to the West, 
now residing in Osage, Iowa — a large land-holder there. 
After the destruction of the distillery by fire, the grist-mill 
declined, and William H. LeRoy and his brother-in-law, Jer- 
emiah Wells, erected the present building on the site, as a 
shop for the manufacture of draw-shaves, carried on by Mix 
& Kendall, Milton Wells being associated with thetn. Hoes 
were also manufactured there for 'Squire Henry S. Smith, of 
Cassville — now of Grand Rapids, Michigan — a dealer in agri- 
cultural implements. It was afterward converted into a bat- 
ting factory, carried on by Charles and Henry Bastow, now of 
Utica ; Erastus Everett, the old Sauquoit merchant, a Mr. M. 
Henry, and others. Hiram and George W. Holman, sous of 
David Holman, Jr., afterwards owned it. It is now owned 
and occupied as a cabinet manufactory by Charles H. Cooper, 
whose warerooms ai'e at Cla3'ville, where he resides. William 
Holman, ^brother of Da\id, Jr.,) had a grocery store here at 
one time, and George Briggs had a store while he carried on 
the distillery, and about the same time a man by the name of 
Hutchinson, also a Mr. Tripp, kept tavern there. Mr. Tripp 
married a daughter of "Mayor" Filkins, and after a few years 
removed to Babcock Hill, where he kept tavern many years. 
Mr. Filkins received his soubriquet of " Mayor of Log City," 
from his portly, patriarchal appearance, and his long residence 
there. His son, James Filkins, survives him, and has long 



HOLMAN CITY. 267 

resided at Waterville — the well-known detective. " Dave " 
Bloss, was a " character" at "The City." After the pioneer 
days of Baxter Gage, Bloss and " Spence " Worden, of South 
Sauquoit, were the chamj)ion choppers, and could "put up" 
four cords per day each, of " body wood," split and piled, 
("corded,") ready to be measured, and then it would be hauled 
to the village, and, when sold, again piled and measured ; then 
afterward, with a "bucksaw" and "sawbuck" — the wood be- 
ing placed on the latter — sawed into " stove length " and split 
finely, ready for use, This was after the days of the old tire- 
places with their " back logs " and laige wood, and in the days 
of " wood " stoves. Coal stoves were not introduced in the 
Valley until 1854-. In 1852, Captain Knight put a grate and 
fire-brick into his wood-stove, (fitting them in temporarily,) 
and also " fixed " S. Rogers' stove in the same mannei', and 
they commenced experimenting in the burning of anthracite 
coal. In 1854 they, as well as' William Harrison Royce, pro- 
cured stoves made for burning coal, and were the first to burn 
coal. Others followed in its use, but it was not generally 
adopted until the completion of the railroad to the Chenango 
Canal at Sherburne— Aug. 19, 1868— when a coal yard was 
established at Sauquoit by the writei". The first coal received 
over f,he railroad was Sept. 30, 1868, and the first coal deliv-. 
ered fiom the yard was three and one-half tons co Dr. L. 
Bishop. The surrounding farmers mostly use wood as yet, 
except in their parlor .stoves, in which they burn the " nut" 
coal. 

David Holman, Jr., had a store at " The City," near where 
Hiram Holman now resides, the only survivor of the famdy 
there, David, Jr., as well as David Holman, Sr., (who came 
later,) having died many years ago; George W. Holman, the 
well-known millwright, now residing at Clayville. A negro, 
by the name of Wigden had a small shop here at one time, 
where he turned wooden bowls. A few years since, James 
Stedman had a wagon shop there, and a little below the vil- 
lage, Benjamin G. Chapman has a wagon shop, utilizing his 
dam for a trout-pond, which he has abundantly stocked. A 
few rods further up the stream, George Waldron has two 
trout-ponds, both stocked with the speckled beauties, the 
clear, cold spring water of this brook being well adapted to. 



268 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

their propagation and growth. Lyman Prior was an early- 
settler here, now living at East Sauquoit, his son, Charles D. 
Prior, residing on the old homestead, to which he has suc- 
ceeded. The old schoolmaster, Henry Gage — eldest son of 
Baxter Gage — also located south of the village, where he died 
a few years ago. Horace Rice was an early settler here. 
May 8, 1825, he married Hannah Gilbert, daughter of Theo- 
dore Gilbert, the pioneer, and some years later removed to 
Ripley Hill, Chautauqua county, then a wilderness, and com- 
menced a pioneer life there. They had a large family of 
daughters, all grown up, married and settled. His wife, Han- 
nah Gilbert, born Nov. 8, 1805, died in her 74-th year, while 
he still survives. 

Sampson Johnson was an early settler in that part of the 
town, and came in 1812 from Hartford, Conn. He was one 
of the first members of the Methodist Church, in the " fifth, or 
south class;" also his wife Sarah, his daughter Sophia, and 
three sons: Levi, Lloyd and Zebina; these four children, all 
now aged people, constitute four of the six only survivors of 
the one hundred and seventy-eight original members of that 
church ; two other sons are living in Geneseo — Sylvester and 
Royal. Levi and Lloyd reside at Clayville, and Zebina, who 
for many years carried on the gristmill above Clayville, now 
resides with his son Morris, at West Sauquoit — all honored 
citizens, and the most remarkable example of longevity, of 
any family in town. They worked in the old Paris furnace 
when young men, and until it went out of blast, about the 
year 1832-33. 

The most important manufactory ever carried on at Holman 
City was established in 1830 by Tunis V. LeRoy, Sr., a skilled 
mechanic of great inventive genius. In the early days, to 
drill a hole of any considerable size into iron was a slow and 
laborious process, to accomplish which, the blacksmith would 
adjust a strong wooden lever over the article to be drilled, so 
arranged as to bear down upon the " bit-stock," otie man 
managing the great lever, while another laboriously struggled 
to turn the bit-stock in which the hardened steel drill was 
affixed. Mr. LeRoy conceived the idea of improving upon 
this tedious process, and perfected an invention which he 
.patented, consisting of a solid bedplate of cast iron, at one 



HOLMAN CITY. 269 

end of which rose two perpendicular standards in line, 
through which a large hollow screw with a hand-wheel to 
turn it, was arranged to travel on a line with the bedplate, a 
strong spindle passing through the hollow screw, in one end 
of which the drill was adjusted, and at the other end was 
affixed a crank to turn it. A movable rest was arranged on 
the bedplate in front of the drill to firmly hold the article to 
be bored, and when the drill was revolved, the screw being 
moved by the hand-wheel, the drill was forced into the solid 
iron, and reversing the motion, withdrawn when the hole was 
drilled. This machine was one of the most important inven- 
tions of the age, and afterwards when made of large size, 
placed in an upright position and d»'iven by steam or water- 
power, was the indespensable power drill which rendered pos- 
sible the construction of locomotives ; the plating with iron 
of the leviathan ocean steamships ; the construction of the 
massive plates for the iron clad war ships with their impene- 
trable armor; and a thousand other machines of iron which 
have been called into existence by the necessities of the busy 
generation. Mr. LeRoy began the manufacture of his since 
so celebrated drill, in the year 1839, in the shop below the 
Holman grist mill on the " city brook," where he carried on 
the business for many years, and about the year 1858 removed 
to Wyoming county. Pa. He was of French descent, and 
born in Massachusetts in 1796. His wife is of German 
parentage, and thej came to Central New York at an early 
day, and first settled at Middleville and afterwards removed 
to Utica. where he was forger at the machine shop of Pond & 
Higham, (now Philo S. Curtis',) from whence he removed to 
Holman City. They had ten children ; six boys and four 
girls : William H., Sarah, Simon, Melvina, Jackson, Levo, 
Eseneath, Tunis V., Jr., Delavan and Helen, all of whom sur- 
vive except Sarah and Helen. After the burning of the 
Briggs distillery he erected a shop on that site, (where he 
manufactured machinists' wrenches, etc.,) which was after- 
wards converted into a foundry, and is now carried on by 
Armon King. In the year 1878, at Wyoming county, Pa.» 
the inventor of the power drill, Tunis V. LeRoy, Sr., after a 
long, busy life, at the age of 82, rested from his labors. His 
wife survives, and in excellent health paid a visit to her son. 



270 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

T. V. LeRoy, of Utica, in November, 1879, and celebrated her 
80th birthday at his house, traveling back and forth from 
Pennsylvania without discomfort. 

Tunis V. LeRoy, Jr., (of LeRoy, Shattuck & Head,) of 
Utica, inherits in a marked degree the inventive genius of the 
father. Schooled at an early age in the old shop on the "city 
brook" to the use of tools and the handling of the machinery, 
he acquired great skill, and for many years he was employed 
in the celebrated Remington Wo)-ks at Ilion, where he per- 
fected and patented many improvements in mowing machines, 
hay-tedders, wagon-axle and box, etc., and a few years since 
removed to Ftica and established the foundry and woi-ks of 
LeRoy, Shattuck & Head. In the United States there are 
more than 80,000 miles of railroads in active operation, re- 
quiring untold thousands of cars and millions of car axles 
and wheels in constant motion, from Maine to Mexico and 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, bearing and distributing the 
o-rain to feed a world, merchandize to supply a continent, 
and transporting travelers each day that would populate an 
empire. To perform this stupendous business with rapidity 
and salety is a problem that has exercised the brains and 
stimulated the intellect of the greatest expert mechanics of 
the civilized world. Chief among the fruitful dangers and 
difficulties to overcome is the constant tendency of the ra- 
pidly revolving car axles (subjected to such great weight and 
pressure,) to heat in the " bearings" by friction, and thus de- 
stroy themselves in a short time, causing damaging delays or 
wrecking the trains. This difficulty has created more delay ^ 
damage and loss of life than any one thing in the history of 
railroading, and to construct a bearing in which the car axle 
cannot become heated, has baffled the skill of the master 
mechanics for a quarter of a century. Mr. LeRoy is the for- 
tunate mechanic to perfect and patent an invention, which at 
last is a practical solution of the vexed problem. A brass 
"journal box" with deep channels a quarter of an inch wide 
traversing the inside spirally from end to end like threads o1 
a screw — at a" sharp pitch" — and these channels filled with 
lead, accomplishes the purpose, as has been thoroughly and 
practically tested. As the revolution of the axle wears awaj 
the brass, it also carries small particles of the lead (which is £ 



THE TRAGEDY OF BABCOCK HILL. 271 

lubricator) upon aud over the wearing brass surfaces, and 
renders it ini])ossible to become heated. This novel improve- 
ment is attracting wide attention among the i-ailroad mag- 
nates, and the adoption of this " Anti -friction Journal Box 
for Railroad Cars," b}' the railroad companies throughout the 
world is doubtless only a question of time. 



THE GREAT SNOW STORM OF 1835, AND THE "GREAT FIRE" IN 

NEW YORK CITY. — THE THRILLING TRAGEDY NEAR 

BABCOCK HILL. 

The deep snow of the winter >f 1835-G will long be remem- 
bered by the inhabitants of the Valley. It fell to a depth of six 
feet and remained during the whole season. Two events serve 
to fix the period in the memory of all — the great fire in New 
York city, and the horrible murder of Mr. Babcock and Mrs. 
Varndell, and the suicide of Mr. Varndell, in the south-east 
part of our own town, it being the only murder ever cominit_ 
ted in the town of Paris up to that time. 

The great fire in New York commenced in the store of 

Comstock & Adams, No. 25 Merchant and 131 Pearl street 

> 

at 9 o'clock Wednesday evening, December 16, 1835, and 
raged with unabated fury till Thursda}^ noon, a period ot fif- 
teen hours, in spite of the most frantic efforts of the firemen 
with the old hand engines, aided by the exertions of the citi- 
zens. The military, in the meantime, went in advance of the 
course of the conflagration blowing up buildings to staj' its 
progress, while a fearful snow storm and intense cold added 
horror to the scene, and retarded the efforts of all. More than 
700 buildings in the heart of the business portion of the city 
were destroyed, entailing a loss of about twent}^ million 
dollars. 

On Sunday, December 27, 1835, Amasa S. Newbury, of 
Sangerfield, one of the coroners of Oneida county, was called 
to view the bodies of Augustus A. Babcock, Edward Varndell 
and Sally Varndell, wife of the latter, who were found dead 
on the morning of that day, in the house owned by Mr. Bab- 
cock and occupied by Varndell, near where Mr. Chapman 



272 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

now resides, on the " Stone road " about one mile south ol 
Holman City. (The old house was afterwards moved and 
converted into a- dairy house.) After a full and accurate in- 
vestigation of the facts connected with this tragical catastro- 
phe, the jurors impaneled, returned a verdict in substance 
that Mrs. Varndell and Mr. Babcock were willfully murdered 
by Edward Varndell, who subsequently committed suicide by 
cutting his own throat with a razor. When found, Mr. B. wa;^ 
dead in his bed, the right side of his head having been beaten 
in by several blows from the head of an axe, and his brains 
scattered about the bed and room. Mrs. Vari.dell was found 
lying on the floor in another room, her head and face shock- 
ingly mangled by the same weapon. She was still alive, but 
soon after expired. The body of Varndell was in the same 
room with his wife. The razor with which he had destroyed 
himself, was found hanging across his hat near his body. 
From the evidence it is probable the act was committed near 
morning, the bodies being still warm when the murder was 
discovered at 7 o'clock A. M. What is singular, a young 
woman about 17 years old, slept in the same room with Varn- 
dell and his wife, and was not awakened or disturbed by the 
transaction. She afterwards awoke and saw Varndell and 
his wile on the floor; after going to Babcock's room for assist- 
ance, and finding that he also was dead, she gave the alarm 
to the neighbors. 

From evidence adduced on the inquest, there can remain 
little doubt that the cause of this horrid act on the part of 
Varndell was a causeless jealousy entertained by him against 
his wife. Several conversations were testified to by witnesses, 
in which an unjust suspicion was distinctly announced, but 
from all the testimony no impropriety could be discovered in 
the conduct of Mrs. Varndell. Persons who were at the house 
the preceding evening did not notice anything singular in 
Varndell's conduct, but it appeared that before this he had had 
several trifling disputes with Babcock, and that on one occa- 
sion he had declared his belief that an illicit intercourse ex- 
isted between his wife and Mr. B., as well as with other per- 
sons in the neighborhood. 

Varndell was an Englishman, aged about 30 years, his wife 
about 25, and Mr. Babcock about 23 years. 



OLAYVILLE. 273 

It is probable that he had planned to make his escape by 
flicrht, after the double murder, as a horse was found in the 
barn ready saddled and bridled. " Man proposes, but God 
disposes." Divine providence interposed an impassable bar- 
rier to his meditated escape. The silent but rapidly falling 
flakes of the " great snow storm " had meantime descended, 
and when, after the perpetration of this horrid work, he look- 
ed out over the face of the country, in the dull.gra}* breaking 
of that so desecrated Sabbath morn — horror of hori-ors ! there 
was no escape; the roads were blocked in all directions; the 
hand of God had surrounded him with inevitable doom. The 
"beautiful snow " piled high above the fences, a vast, white 
sheet of death, against which the fleetest steed was powerless 
•So he promptly ended the tragic drama, and joined m death 
his still quivering victims. His fleshless bones — denied a 
burial — artistically wired together, afterward graced the closet 
of one of our distinguished physicians, and his grinning skel- 
•eton furnished the necessary study of anatomy for future 
students of the healiner art. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CLAYVILLE — (PARIS FURNACE.) 

Clayville is located on the Sauquoit creek, two miles south 
•of Sauquoit, in a narrow gorge between the high pinnacles 
through which the creek there finds its way. It is one thou- 
sand feet above the level of the sea, and five hundred and 
■eighty feet above the Mohawk, at Utica. It was first named 
Paris Furnace, and Colonel Gardner Avery appointed the 
first postmaster; then afterwards, Deacon Joseph Howard. 
An attempt was made to change the name of the village in 
the year 1844, during the campaign to elect Henry Clay to 
R 



274) HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

the Presidency, but James K. Polk being elected, the chang 
was not effected, and 'Squire William H. Barnett was contin 
ued as postmaster of Paris Furnace. At the next campaigt 
in 1848, the Whigs carried the day, and elected General Zach 
ary Taylor, and in the spring of 1849', when the Administra 
tion changed, Mr. Barnett, the last postmaster of Paris Fur 
Dace, was removed, and the name changed to Clay vi He, ii 
honor of Henry Clay, and Eason Allen appointed the firs 
postmaster of Clayville. It was the fourth settlement in tni 
town of Paris. "Judge" Eliphalet Sweeting being the pionee 
of the village, in the year 1800, commenced the erection o 
the Paris furnace on the site of the present lower Millarc 
works, or hoe shop, on the east side of tho road, opposite th( 
residence of Mrs. D. J. Millard. Colonel Grardner Avery cami 
in the year 1801, and took charge of the completion of th( 
furnace, and assumed the management of the business, il 
Mr. Hill erected the first log house, for a boarding house 
Thomas Spoffbrd built the next log house, in 1802, opposite 
the present residence of Hon. Eli Avery, and built a sawmil 
a little below, on the creek. The only other house withii 
three-fourths of a mile of the furnace, was the log house o 
Theodore Gilbert, near the Burning Spring. Colonel Aver_5 
erected his residence in 1810, and about the same time Judg< 
Sweeting erected his house, on the bank, a few rods south o 
where the upper factory of the Empire Woolen Company now 
stands, and on the site of this factory he erected a sawmill 
Previous to this. Deacon Joseph Howard erected a brewery 
and a grocery store adjoining, (being the first store there,^ 
across the old road at the foot of the little hill north of the 
furnace. About the same time, or a little later, Mr. Scollard 
erected the tavern opposite, and to the west of the furnace 
The " raising " of this tavern was an event at that early day, 
the settlers from far and near being invited to the " bee.' 
The building was a large one, and the " bents " of massive 
timbers were heavy and unwieldy to handle. After the 
frame was raised, came the customary old-fashioned jollifica- 
tion.which on this occasion assumed somewhat the character oi 
a dedication, as it was presided over by Rev. Mr. Soutn worth, 
the venerable Presbyterian clergyman of Bridgewater,who said 
" He trusted that the building so proudly reared before them 



I 



CLAYVILLE. 275- 



might long stand to furnish entertainment for man and beast j . 
that here, the wearied traveler might find rest and refresh- 
ment, and the thirst}' wayfarer, the revivifying beverage to 
restore his wasted and flagging energies; that the public 
meetings that may from time to time be held within these 
walls, might be conducted with dignity and decorum and 
eventuate in the good of community, and that the parties and- 
social gatherings might result in the happiness of the partici- 
pants, and that they might enjoy and not by over indulgence 
abuse the blessings that a kind Providence has placed within 
our reach, to gladden the heart on festive occasions. A sample 
of the good things in store for us, he perceived before him, 
furnished by their generous host, from the enjf)yment of 
which he would not by extended remarks longer detain his 
audience." His happy effort was greeted with rounds of ap- 
plause, and then they all "fell to" and enjoyed the substan- 
tial lunch and made merry over the New England rum and 
various other choice liquors, of which all were invited to par- 
take. Horace Luce afterwards and for many years was the 
popular landlord of this hotel, and after it was altered over 
into a residence by David J. Millard, it was rendered histori- 
cal, in that America's great orator and statesman, Henry Clay, 
was entertained beneath its hospitable roof. 

Colonel Avery, about 1810, erected a sawmill opposite his 
residence (and some fifteen rods above the site of the Spofford 
sawmill,) which in a few years burned down, ("Uncle" Thomp- 
son, who slept in the mill, perishing in the flames,) after 
which he erected another sawmill on the same site, which 
stood until a few years since. In 1822 he erected a cai-ding 
and fulling mill a few rods above, over the site of which now 
passes the i-ailroad as it crosses the creek and enters Clay ville. 
'Squire Albert Barnett aided in its erection, and carried it on 
afterwards; coming to Clay ville aVjout that time, where he 
has ever since resided, — now in his 89th year, — being promi- 
nently identified with the growth and prosperity of the town. 
He came to Paris with his father, James Barnett, a revolu- 
tionary soldier who served in the commissary department 
through the war, and who came from Connecticut to Dutchess 
county, N. Y., and from thence to Paris, near the line ot 
Bridgewater, in 1794. A brother — William Barnett — served 



276 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

in the war of 1812 as his (Albert's) substitute. He has evei 
since resided in the town, with the exception of four yean 
residence in Delaware county, during which he was made £ 
Mason there, (in 1816,) and is now an honorary member o 
Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, F. & A. M. He has filled man^ 
offices of trust in the town, and during the greater part of hi: 
active life, has filled the office of Justice of the Peace. H 
preserves his age remarkably by active exercise as a " sports 
man," being an accomplished trout fisherman and skillful fo^ 
hunter, notwithstanding his advanced age, and in trolling fo 
pickerel, none of the " boys" can excel him — rowing his owi 
boat. Among other property which he acquired, was thi 
Sweeting sawmill, which he sold to Bacon & Collis, who wen 
the second merchants at Clayville, and who commenced th 
erection thereon of a woolen factory, but before its comple 
tion sold it to Frederick Hollister, in 1842, who completed th 
erection of the present factory thereon. His son, Mills Bar 
Bett, was an active businevss man in town for many years, an( 
afterwards removed to Phelps, Ontario county, N. Y., and i 
but recently deceased. His surviving son, William H. Bar 
nett, has always resided at Clayville, an active business mar 
postmaster for many years, and also Justice of the Peac( 
Above the old Paris furnace, about fifty rods, Davis & Bowie 
in 1818 erected a forge with " tilt hammers," for the manufac 
ture of scythes and other implements, and were afterward 
succeeded by Mr. Beach, in the same line of raanufactun 
This site, and the site of the furnace below, afterwards, unde 
the management of David J. Millard, grew to be one of th 
tmost important manufacturing industries on the continent. 

<COL. GARDNER AVERY — A PIONEER OF THE SAUQUOIT VALLE 
AT CLAYVILLE. 

Col. Gardner Avery was born in Munson, Mass., in 177'^ 
At the age of eight years he was " bound out" until h 
should arrive at the age of 18, to a Mr. Munn, at the e2 
piration of which he went to Otsego county, N. Y., near Ricl 
field Springs, and hired out to a Mr. Chamberlain. Duric 
his service there the small pox broke out in the neighborhoo 
and raged with great violence, whereupon he went back 1 



I 



CLAYVILLE. 277 

his old home in Massachusetts, where it was his intention to 
go to a pest-honse and be inoculated for that dread disease, 
and thus have it in a mild form as a preventive for future at- 
tacks, which was the custom in those old times, and before 
vaccination or the kinepox was discovered. His father op- 
posed his plan and positivel}' forbade him. But upon arriv- 
ing at his majority, on his twenty-first birthday he marched 
to the pest-house, distant some fourteen miles, and went 
through the course of treatment, at the expiration of which 
he received a certificate from the surgeon in charge, and re- 
turned home. But in such fear was the contagion held, at 
that early day, that his father refused him admission at first, 
and until he had exhibited his certificate. Soon afterward he 
removed to Albany, N. Y., engaging as steward in the old 
" Stone Hotel," the leading house there at that time, and the 
popular resort of the Assemblymen and other magnates of 
the Capitol. While here, he married Huldah, a daughter of 
John Russell, a prominent business man of that city. His 
wife ere long died, leaving him one child, a daughter, who in 
time married George iVIerrifield, of Sand Lake. At the hotel 
he developed great energy and business ability, and thereby 
attracted the attention of Judge Sanger, of New Hartford, 
the great land agent, who was a frequent guest of the hotel, 
but more particularly by his courage and skill in the following 
adventuie : 

During the winter, when the river was frozen over, a pas- 
sage was readily affected on the ice; but in the spring, when 
the ice was softened by the thaws, it would become unsafe 
and impossible to cross until the final " breaking up," when 
boats could be used. This unsafe period sometimes lasted 
several days. During such a period in the spring of 1801, a 
prominent banker there found it important to send a package 
of money across the river to Greenbush, but could find no one 
who would brave the perilous undertaking, although he freely 
ofiered one hundred dollars for its accomplishment. The 
generous offer coming to the ears of young Gardner, he 
promptly tendered his services, which were accepted. Pro- 
curing some long, lithe, strong " hoop- poles," he strapped them 
to his body under each arm, the ends piojecting fore and aft, 
and taking a strong pike-pole in his hands, with which to 



278 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

leap over air-holes or weak places in the ice, or pull himsel 
out, if he should break through, the hoop-poles projecting ou 
to catch on the ice and prevent his sinking in such an event 
and securing the package on his head, he was ready for th 
perilous passage. An immense crowd gathered to witness th 
exploit, to which he boldly advanced and which he success 
fully performed, the vast gathering of citizens greeting th 
safe return with rounds of cheers for the hero of the houi 

Judge Sanger, who witnessed the exploit, was at that tim 
in need of a man to take charge of the Paris Furnace, then ii 
course of erection at what is now Clayville, and with hi 
keen insight into character, at once selected young Gardne 
for the responsible position, who, with his characteristi 
promptitude, accepted the offer. Reaching New Hartford, h 
mounted a horse, and at once proceeded up the valley to th 
furnace. Beyond Sauquoit the road led along the high groun 
through the Bently neighborhood, thence turning abruptly t 
the east down into the valley, where the furnace was locatec 
During the last part of his route he was forced to dismoun 
and jump his horse over the fallen trees. Reaching the site a 
last, the massive frame of the huge building burst upon hi 
view like a gaunt spectre, it having been raised and thus fa 
completed under the supervision of "Judge" Eliphalet Sweet 
ing, who at once resigned command to the new comer. The^ 
pushed forward the work with great energy, cornpleting it be 
fore fall, both sl(>eping on a horse-blanket during the summei 
and when "she went into blast," "Judge" Sweeting took th 
position of founder, in which he was greatly skilled, and wa 
•considered the best judge of iron ores in the country, henc 
his sobriquet of "Judge." Colonel Gardner Avery assume 
the general financial management and direction of affairs, an^ 
the furnace grew to be one of the most important enterprise 
in the interior of the State. 

In 1817 he founded the Lenox Furnace, which adde 
^greatly to his duties, driving back and forth, superintendin 
both. In addition to both these extensive furnaces he wa 
the superintendent of the old Seneca Turnpike from Utica t 
Canandaigua, which compelled him to go over the road one 
each month to settle up with the gate-keepers. With 
spirited span of horses bought for him in Delaware county b; 



CLAYVILLE. 279 

'Squire Barnett, attached to a light wagon for those days, 
made by the old wagoa-maker, Brainard, he would make the 
trip and return in five days, bringing with hira the silver in 
large saddle-bags. These he faithfully guarded with a brace 
of pistols, queer old Hint lock weapons, now in possession of 
his grandson, E. B. Avery, as treasured relics, while made 
from some of the silver his son James has a large spoon much 
prized by him. 

While on one of these trips two important events took 
place at home. Among the many men in his employ was one 
named Smith, a stranger, who, although he did his work well, 
seemed ignorant and stupid. It was afterward, however, 
ascertained from his fellow workmen, that he was a keen, 
well educated man, and the stupidity was assumed for some 
purpose. Taking advantage of the absence of the Colonel, he 
stole one of his best horses and fled, and no trace of him was 
ever found The same night of his flight, the sawmill oppo- 
site the Avery residence was burned, old Uncle Thompson, 
the sawyer, who slept in the mill, perishing in the flames. It 
was generally accepted that the old man, who sometimes 
" took a little too much," had blunderingly set the mill on fire, 
but looking back through the vista of years, circumstances 
favor the probability that the " stupid" Smith gained his con- 
iidence, and ascertaining that he had some funds hoarded up, 
robbed and murdered him, and, tiring the sawmill to cover up 
his crime, mounted the stolen horse and made hia escape. 

After the Colonel had got well established at Paris Furnace 
he purchased a farm — where Crook now resides, near the 
cemetery — brought forward his father and family from their 
eastern home and placed them on the farm, where they re- 
sided many years until advanced in age. Then he built them 
a house in the yard near his own residence, the better to look 
after them, where they passed their declining years in com- 
fort and happiness. United in life they were not separated a 
day in death, dying within sixteen hours of each other. 
December 27, 1831, he, aged 81 years, and his wife— Amy 
]Slewe]l — aged 76, having lived together 59 years. The old 
gentleman was a soldier of the Revolution and served through 
the whole war. 

In the building of the Presbyterian Church in the spring 



280 ■ HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of 1811, Colonel Avery and other influential members desired 
it to be erected at West Sauquoit, but they were outvoted, 
and a site selected just east of the residence of the late Wm. 
Knight, where the foundation was laid, on which the sills 
were placed and the framing well under way, when, presto l 
in the dull, gray breaking of a spring day morning, the road 
opposite the site suddenly swarmed with teams and men. 
The Furnace Company teams, some dozen or more, Theodore 
and Alyu Gilbert, the dam builders, about as many more. 
Captain Bacon, John Butler, and others, who favored a change 
of base, swelled the wagon-train, all under the direction of 
the energetic colonel, who was a born leader, and in a twink- 
ling, and before the opposition could be rallied against them,, 
the timbers and foundation stones were loaded up and carted 
over to West Sauquoit, and ere night the " bee" had relaid the 
foundation and placed the sills thereon, and the building 
went up on the new site. He and John Butler — the oldest 
pioneer of the western hillside — ever afterward were the- 
leading influential members of the society, and accorded the- 
post of honor by the congregation, (the large square pews 
right and left of the pulpit,) which the}' have ever since occu- 
pied with their families or descendants. Soon after coming to 
Paris Furnace, he married Betsey Sage, of New Hartford, and 
in 1810 built his residence, now occupied by his son, Hon.. 
Eli Avery. 

In the year 1822 he erected a carding and fulling mill on. 
the east side of the road opposite and a little below the pres- 
ent site of the Empire Woolen Factory. When the railroad 
was constructed the old building was removed to make room^ 
for the trestle work (since filled up) where the railroad crosses 
the creek to enter the village, which passes over the site of 
the old carding mill. 

The Paris Furnace was the i)ioneer manufacturing enter- 
prise of the valley, and attained a volume of business of great 
magnitude, its potash kettles and hollow ware and other pro- 
ducts being sent to all parts of the State then being settled- 
Their main market, however, was at Albany, to which, with 
their wares, their teams weie regularly sent, it being before 
the days of canals or railroads. In the winter of 1824, he 
sent his son Eli, a mere lad, with a span of horses attached to^ 



OLAYVILLE. 281 

a sleigh loaded with potash kettles, to Montrose, Penn., where- 
they were disposed of, and he brought back a load of anthra- 
cite coal, the first ever brought into the town of Paris. It 
was used in a small cupola, called the " pot furnace," to remelt 
the "sprues," &;c., to be cast into plow points, thus making 
them harder than could be produced from the great charcoal, 
stack. 

"Judge" Eliphalet Sweeting, the pioneer of Clayville and 
the foreman of the furnace, was a man of fine qualities of 
heart, and held in high esteem by all. He married the widow 
Luce, with seven children, whom he brought up and ever 
made as welcome to his home as wei'e his own four children 
which the wid(jw bore him. Horace Luce, one of the boys, 
afterward and for many 3^ears kept the tavern, budt by Mr. 
Scollard, opposite the furnace, which was the popular resort 
not only of the little village, but many a party from Utica 
used to drive up there with their sweethearts and music to 
enjoy the genial hospitalitv of "Hod." Luce. In the last days 
of the old furnace, he in company with a Mr. Webb, put her 
in blast for a few years. The old hotel was afterward the 
residence of David J. Millard, his widow now residing there. 
" Judge" Sweeting and many of the furnace hands boarded 
at the Luce tavern, and one evening when all were as usual 
assembled in the bar-room, a farmer present was bragging 
about the wondertul drawing qualities of his span of horsesi 
when the old " Judge " wagered him that he had four men 
that could wheel on a barrow from the furnace up the little 
hill — where George Holman now resides — to the head of the 
" stack," more pig iron than his team could haul there. The 
wager being accepted, he selected the four Green brothers :. 
Napoleon B., Joseph, Nathan, and Hiram, all large, powerful 
men, in the prime of life. They each loaded a bai row, wheeled 
it up the hill and back, and then placed the contents on the 
farmer's wagon, (the lightest barrow load of the four, weighed 
1,480 pounds.) The team could scarcely move the load on 
level ground, and it was impossible for them to draw it up 
the hill. Two of the brothers survive, Nathan C., who lives 
west of Clayville, and Hiram Green, of New Hartford. The 
four brothers came from Otego, Otsego county, at an early 
day, and were employed in the furnace for many years. The- 



282 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Company owned a large tract of land where Wakeman Rider 
now resides, and also near Tassel Hill. After burning the 
timber into charcoal, and clearing up the land they sowed it 
to wheat, and one year they had 1,000 acres to harvest, and 
all of it was reaped by sickles, requiring the aid of all the 
furnace employes and many others. It required the con- 
stant labor of Hiram Green to supply them with drinking 
water. At the Lenox Furnace they had several thousand 
acres extending from the river up Coal Hill ; all of this land 
was finally sold off to settlers after the timber was converted 
into charcoal. 

Judge Sweeting was a prominent Freemason, initiated in 
old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, of New Hartford, in 1804. The 
Luce branch of the family are all dead. Horace died in Ken- 
tucky, February 19, 1874, aged 72, surviving his brothers 
Zabine, of East Sauquoit, and Willard of West Sauquoit, whc 
both died two or three years previously ; their sistei', widov\ 
Sylvester Butler, being the last to go, dying at the residence 
of her son-in-law. Alderman Price, of Utica, in 1878. Of his 
own children there survive one son and two daughters 
Henry, of Monroe county, widow George M. Brownell, of Sau- 
quoit, and Mrs. Lovina Burnett, who makes her home witl: 
Mr. Tucker, of the Troy Times. The deceased son, Rufus 
met with a tragic end a few years since, capsizing in a yacht 
on a pleasure trip on Lake Ontario. Father Sweeting weni 
to rest March 18, 1828, at the ripe age of 72 years, his widow 
Lovina, surviving him many years, passing away May 31 
1851, aged 78 years. 

Colonel Gardner Avery was the first postmaster of Parii 
Furnace, and Member of Assembly in 1827 ; also a distin 
guished Freemason, initiated in old Amicable Lodge in 1803 
and after a long, eventful, useful life, oi strictest integrity 
and the most energetic business man ever developed in th( 
Valley, while on a visit to Saratoga Springs, entered into res 
August 18th, 1849. A sister in Ohio, and one brother ii 
this State survive him — the venerable and distinguishec 
Prof. Charles Avery, of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y 
His children were, Jared, Eliza, Mary, Eli, Louisa, Harris 
James and Lyman. James resides in Utica, and Lyman ii 
Wampsville. N. Y. Eli resides on the old homestead, and foi 



CLAYVILLE. 283 

many years has been prominently identified with the growth 
and prosperity of the Valley. In early life he was for some 
years engaged in the forwarding business at Utica, but with- 
drew and was an active partner in the firm of S. A. Millari 
& Co. for many years, in the extensive manufacture of agri- 
cultural implements at Clayville, retiring, however, from 
active business a few years since. He was Supervisor in 
1854-55 and 1866, and Member of Assembly in 1862 and 
1869. His children are, Walter, Eliza A., Edward B., Gardner 
and Cornelia E., all of whom survive except Gardner, who 
died suddenly of typhoid fever, a few years since, in High 
Blue, Missouri, his remains being brought home and interred 
in the Valley Cemetery. 

DAVID J. MILLARD, THE CELEBRATED MANUFACTURER OF 
SCYTHES AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

David J. Millard was born in 1804, and came to the Sau- 
quoit Valley early in the century with his father, Charles 
Millard, from Delaware county, N. Y. On the site of the old 
Quaker factory at Sauquoit, m the machine shop building con- 
nected therewith, Charles Millard and his brother Amasa put 
in trip hammers, and manufactured scythes, &c., in a primitive 
manner. They also at one time had a similar shop (successors 
to Abner Bartlett, in the same line,) on the site of the furnace 
at Willowvale. They were both very worthy men, and were 
ofiicers of the old Paris Masonic Lodge, of which another 
brother, Nathaniel, was a member. In early life David J. 
learned the trade of wool sorter, in the wool house of the old 
Quaker Company at Sauquoit, during which, at evenings and 
odd times hediligentlystudied,and acquired an education which 
qualified him to teach district school, and he was one of the 
early and most successful teachers — his writing being a model 
of penmanship at that early day. He married Clarissa,daugh- 
ter of Abel Mosher, and about the same time accepted the 
position of agent for the Furnace factory at South Sauquoit, 
where he resided for many years, filling. the arduous position 
with ability and fidelity, and meantime caring for his aged 
parents. About the year 1840 he removed to Clayville, and 
with his brother — Sterling A.* — engaged in the manufacture 

* Sterling A. Millard was Supervisor in 1852-53. 



284 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of scythes, hay forks, &c., on the site of the Cobb & Robinson 
shovel factory, erected in 1814, and converted into a scythe 
shop by Davis & Bowles in 1818, whereon he erected exten- 
sive buildino;s for the purpose, as also below on the stream, oa 
the site of the old Paris furnace, with ample storehouses and. 




numerous dwelling houses for his workmen, and purchased 
the old ScoUard hotel for a residence, alteiing it over and 
beautifying the grounds with great taste. His brother. Ster- 
ling A., soon after withdrew from the firm, and erected his 
scythe works further up the stream, on the new valley road 
leading to Cassville, which was constructed up the creek be- 
yond the Davis & Bowles shops, about the year 1827, the old 
road having led from that point up the "crooked hill" to the 
west, and thence along the high ground to Cassville. The 
road up the Valley from this point was constructed with 
great difficulty, owing to the swampy nature of the soil. 
Hemlock brush was at first laid on in a thick layer, on which 
gravel was piled from time to time until a foundation was 
obtained. The first to venture over the new road were David 
J. Millard and Jared Avery — oldest son of Colonel Avery — 
who on horseback made the first passage, but were compelled 
to dismount several times, and lead their horses over the worst 
places. 



CLAYVILLE. 285 

At that early day the Western States were being rapidly- 
settled in by industrious farmers, and the superior tools made 
by David J. Millard followed in the wake of this tide of emi- 
gration, and by his umerous agents were introduced into every 
growing village throughout the great west. He was a man of 
great energy and push, thoroughly posted on the growing 
wants of his customers and the details of his manufactory, 
and being an accomplished accountant, he kept the details of 
his vast industry well in hand. His superintendent in the 
shops was Cornelius J. Knickerbocker, a skilled practical 
manufacturer, now retired from business, and residing on 
Howard avenue, Utica, N. Y. In the purchase of "stock" re- 
quired for his business, and his dealings with jobbers and the 
European ma.Mufacturers of the steel and iron which he need- 
ed, he evinced rare tact and skill, and his ability as a com- 
mercial correspondent was unequaled, his business letters 
being models of conciseness and beautiful diction, clearly 
written. He was a positive man in his opinions, and promi- 
nent in the affairs of the town, holding many offices of trust 
and responsibility, and was Supervisor in 1845, '46, '47, '48 
and '49, and again in 1865, when, his health failing, he was 
compelled to resign, and Harvey Head was appointed to fill the 
vacancy. Harvey Head had previously been elected Supervi- 
sor in 1860, '61 and '62, and was afterward elected in 1868, 
69 and '70, and in 1873, '74 and '75, and still again in 1878. 
Ten years in all, and more than any other man in town to be 
honored by that position. During his term of service he has 
repeatedly filled the responsible position of chairman of the 
Board of Supervisors with credit. David J. Millard, durino- 
his lifetime, contributed largely to the growth and permanent 
prosperity of Clayville, although in the later years of his lite 
his magnificent business which he had builded up, deteriorated 
materially, owing mainly to the invention and introduction of 
mowers and reapers, which rapidly displaced the hand tools 
which he had introduced in the great west. 

A self-made man, a gentleman of the old school, of polished 
manners, of rare executive ability and push, after an active 
and useful life, he went to his rest — after a short illness — 
February 11, 1875, aged 71. His wife survives him, residincr 
in the old homestead with a married daughter, another mar- 



286 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ried daupjhter residing in Albany, while the eldest daughter, 
Sarah Jane, wile of Samuel J. Look, Esq., resides in Louis- 
ville, Ky. The extensive shops and manufacturing property 
erected by D. J. Millard, are now the property of Benjamin 
F. Avery, of Louisville, Ky. 

About the year 1842, Frederick Hollister, of Utica, 
caine to Clayville and purchased the partly constructed 
woolen factory of Baker & Gollis, on the site of the old 
Sweeting sawmill, and now known as the upper mills, 
which he completed and put in operation. He purchased the 
land on the west side of the road from this point down along 
the creek to the old Avery carding mill, where the creek 
crosses the road north of the present Empire Mill ; (his pur- 
chase extending west across the creek and partly up the hill- 
side,) which gave him a good water-power below, and the 
west side of the highway for building lots, and he also opened 
a road across the creek at the upper mill, thence along north, 
skirting the foot of the western hillside and intersecting the 
main road at the old carding mill below, on which new street, 
(called "Canada,") he erected seventeen double tenement 
houses, and about the same number on the west side of the 
old main road, also erecting the block of stores near the upper 
mill, the upper story of which (at the south end) he occupied 
as an office. In the year 1843 he commenced the erection of 
the stone factory, (Empire Mill,) 157 feet in length, and four 
stories and an attic in height. This was completed and ready 
to place the machinery therein, in September, 1844, and being 
the year of the Henry Clay campaign, a " house warming," in 
the shape of a rousing Whig mass meeting, was held in the 
upper story before the machinery was put in. It has errone- 
ously gone into history that Henry Clay was present and ad- 
dressed the meeting; which is a grave mistake of the informfi- 
ant who gave it to Mr. Durano, the historian of Oneida county. 
The meeting was addressed by a Mr. Hurlburt, briefly, 
who introduced the speaker of the evening — the " Buckeye 
Orator of Ohio" — a Mr. Kellogg. Precisely five years there- 
after, and in September, 1849, Henry Clay, the life-long 
advocate of " a protective tariff"," made his first and only visit 
to Paris Furnace, which had been changed to Clayville, in his 



CLAYVILLE. 287 

honor, a few months before, (spring of 1849.) Mr. Hollister 
also erected the large wooden block for hotel and stores, (Hol- 
lister House,) with a public hall in the upper story, of a seat- 
ing capacity of three hundred, now known as the Murray 
House, and kept by Emory Adkins, and also erected a gas 
house for lighting the mills, &c.; extensive storehouses; and 
also was mainly instrumental in erecting the first house of 
public worship there — the beautiful brick Episcopal church, 
(St. John's,) and also a tire-engine house, for the hand engine, 
near the upper block of stores. About the same time, or a 
little later, David J. Millard opened up a street from near the 
upper factory, south, and across the flats, to a point near his 
residence, with numerous tenement houses thereon ; and the 
Presbyterian church — built mainly throusfh his efforts. These 
two tinancial giants — D. J. Millard and Frederick Hollister — ■ 
built up the place from a little hamlet of two sawmills, a 
carding-mill, and a country store, to the largest villao-e in the 
town of Paris, and one of the most important manufacturino- 
centres, at that time, in the State. Chauncey L. Mosher was 
the superintendent of the woolen mills, Harris G. Roo-ers 
book-keeper and paymaster, and James H. Jennings, foieman 
in the mills. As the village grew, others came in ; a machine 
shop (Mdler's) and foundry (A. E. Pettee's) stood on Millard's 
new road, where is now the coal sheds of A. J. Rhodes; a laro-e 
hotel opposite the upper block of stores, kept latterly by 
James Avery, the genial landlord, now residing in Utica, was 
erected, and another hotel near the site of the "old carding- 
mill," (Lasher's,) which did a thriving business until destroyed 
by fire, a few years since. The Hollister House was kept 
first by John J. Wicks, a prominent farmer from the west 
hill, assisted by his son, James Wicks, and numerous stores, 
shops, &c., sprung up in the fast growing village. The crash, 
however, came in 1850, when Hollister failed ; and for many 
years after, that part of the village became as " dead as a door 
nail." " Millardville," above, however, still pushed ahead 
prosperously to later on, within a few years, wheu it, too, 
shared the same fate. The woolen factories, after the "smash- 
up," started up spasmodically during the '50s by Hon. 0. B, 
Matteson and Burton Hurlburt, and afterwards by Holmes »&; 
Hallowell. 



288 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

THE PRESENT EMPIRE WOOLEN COMPANY. 

January 3, 1861, A. J. Williams, of Utica, James J. Mui 
ray, of Pittsfield, Mass., Hon. George Innis, of Poughkeepsi( 
Robert L. Murray and A. J. Cameron, purchased the entir 
property for some $40,000 or $50,000, and oigauized th 
*' Empire Woolen Company," J. J. Murray, President, Hoi 




W^^^^\\^^^^*=^R^oC6 N-^- 



Oeorge Innis, Vice President, and A. J. Williams, Treasure 
Mr. A. J. Williams soon after purchased the interests of Rob 
L. Murray and A. J. Cameron. This property, originall 
costing in its construction about half a million dollars, ha 
sadly deteriorated in value, requiring at once a vast outla 
for repairs, and the replacing with new and improved ms 
chinery the old style machinery, which was obsolete and prac 
tically worthless, except for the " scrap heap." Soon after th 
mills were put in shape and in full successful operation, M 
James J. Munay died, and Mr. A. J. Williams purchased hi 
interest in the mills of the estate, and also purchased th 
entire interest of Hon. George Innis, and the property the 
being owned and controlled by himself and his four sons, the 



CLAYVILLE. 289 

reorganized the Company, as follows : A. J. Williams, Presi- 
dent and Treasurer ; Hon. A. G. Williams, Vice President ; 
Trustees : A. J. Williams, Hon. A. G. Williams, I. A. Wil- 
Hiaras, James H. Williams, and N. A. Williams; with a capi- 
tal stock of $250,000. [Since writing the above, N. A. Wil- 
liams and Hon. A. G. Williams have both deceased. — Ed.] 
Under the new organization a brick addition was erected to 
the north of the Empire Mill, 86 feet in length and three sto- 
ries high, and other extensive additions to the west, in the 
rear, so that the capacity of the mill has been doubled, and is 
now a "fifteen set" mill," which, with the upper mill, in which 
six sets of new and improved machinery ha\e recently been 
put in operation, making twenty-one sets in the two mills, 
yield a total production of about five hundred thousand yards 
of 6-4 fancy cassimeres annually, and furnish employment 
for about three hundred operatives. A new substantial brick 
office has also been erected near the Empire Mill, a large 
steam engine and boilers, (with a tall brick stack costing sev- 
•eral thousand dollars,) have been put in, — rendered necessary 
to meet their increased business, — and as an auxiliary to the 
failing power of the creek, the volume of the flow of water 
•diminishing steadily from year to year, as the forests are 
being cut off at its source. The Empire Mills are the largest 
and most important industry in the town of Paris, enlarged 
to this commanding position and state of excellence b}^ that 
veteran woolen manufacturer, A. J. Williams, whose skill has 
produced goods, the admiration of our "merchant princes," 
and to-day in market take first rank as against the best Eng- 
lish and French importations. This magnificent industry is 
■deservedly the pride of the Valley. 



290 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

HENRY CLAY, AMERICA'S GREAT ORATOR AND STATESMAN 
VISITS CLAYVILLE, SEPTEMBER 10, 1849. 

Hon. Henry Clay, e-'/i route to Syracuse to attend the Stat* 

Fair, arrived at Utica, Saturday evening, September 8, ISifJ 

and stopped over as the guest of Frederick Hollister. Oi 

Sunday morning he attended church at Trinity, and ii 

the evening at the Reformed Dutch Church. Monday morn 

ino- he breakfasted with his Honor, Mayor Thomas R. Walkei 

At 10 o'clock A. M., in carriage with the Mayor, Fredericl 

Hollister and W. B. Wells, accompanied by the Commo 

Council and a large concourse of citizens in carriages, tool 

their way over the new plank-road over "cemetery hill" t 

Checkerville. The Washington Mills — the woolen factory c 

Mr. Hollister at this place, bore the legend iu mammoth evei 

green letters " Welcome, Henry Clay," and the factory gir] 

in line, arrayed in white, saluted the statesman. At th- 

place a large delegation from Waterville joined with the pec 

pie of Checkerville and all moved on up the valley, the bel 

at the Willowvale Works ringing as the procession passe* 

Arriving at Sauquoit, they were met by a large delegatio 

from Clay ville with two banners,, and headed by the Utic 

Brass Band, with Dr. Jeremiah Knight as marshal, and ami 

the ringing of bells and the shouts of the people the proce: 

sion moved on to Clay ville, where they arrived at 12 o'cloc 

M. a cannon on the highest peak of the pinnacle anuounci': 

the important arrival. Reaching the beautiful Episcopi 

Church there, just recently erected, the procession halted, ai; 

Mr. Clay and many of the distinguished citizens entered tl 

church, while the organist — Harris G. Rogers — performs 

national airs on the new organ. After listening to the mus 

and viewing the interior of the church, they passed out to tl 

carriage. Enthusiastic admirers of the great statesman h^ 

meantime detached the horses and procured the drag-rope 

the fire engine, which they had attached to the carriage, ar 

with the wildest enthusiasm and prolonged cheers, drew tl 

honored guest by hand triumphantly through the villa; 

named in his honor — Clayville, and to the Paris Furna 

Company's scythe shops, and thence to the residence of Dav 

J. Millard, as his guest for dinner. The immense concoui 



CLAYVILLE. 291' 

of people assembled in the spacious grounds of Mr. Millard, 
and Henry Clay, from the elevated piazza of the residence, 
was formally introduced to the assembled multitude by 
Frederick Hollister. When the echo of the "three times 
three" hearty greeting cheers had died away, the venerable 
orator said " A lady had recjuested of him that he would 
make a speech. He had replied, that if it were to be made 
tete-d-tete with her, nothing would be more pleasant for him, 
and he might perhaps say that which would not meet her 
diappointment. But to the crowd there assembled, what 
could he say ? Yet ; if he could find an occasion for depart- 
ing from the rule he had been compelled to adopt on this 
journey, it would be at this place, which had been named 
after him, and for the purpose of expressing his cordial thanks 
for that honor. His political life was drawing to a close. He 
looked back sometimes with feelings of regret at parts of it, 
but there was no portion which he regarded with so much 
satisfaction, as that policy to which he had devoted half his 
life : that policy which had made us independent of foreign 
nations, and occasioned such results as we see around us. He 
trusted that this prosperous village would continue to expand 
till it covered the summit of those hills, and that every hao- 
piness would be the portion of its inhabitants." After dinner 
he appeared a second time on the i^iazza and " res^retted that 
he was unable to say more." At 2 o'clock P. M., he took 
carriage, and arriving at Checkerville, turned off from the 
plank road to New Hartford, where he was received by a 
large assemblage, the ringing of church bells, and welcomed 
by young ladies with bouquets. Here he took carriage for 
New York Mills with W. D. Walcott and Hon. Samuel Camp- 
bell, preceded by the band. At Yorkville the fire company 
paraded. He reached Utica at 4>h p. M., in time for the train 
to Syracuse, but was induced to remain over night in Utica 
and finally took his departure for Syracuse, Tuesday forenoon 
September 11, 184.9. 

The trip up the beautiful valley of the Sauquoit was a 
magnificent ovation, and an event long to be remembered, it 
being the only visit of the great statesman to Central New 
York. The thirty years that have rolled away since that 
eventful, bright September day in 184!9, have wrought great 



292 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

changes, and many, very many of those voices that cheered 
to the echo, the distinguished orator, are hushed in death 
The principal actors of that day have all passed away. Hon. 
Henry Clay, Frederick HoUister, W. B. Wells, Dr. Jeremiah 
Knio-ht, David J. Millard, and at this writing, the mortal re- 
mains of the late Hon. Thomas R. Wali<:er, ex- Mayor of Utica 
who died in Dresden, Europe, have just arrived at New York 
on the steamer Frisia, one of the Hamburg American 
packets. 



THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES OF CLAYVILLE. — ST. JOHNS EPIS- 
COPAL CHURCH. 

[From Durant's History of Oneida County.] 

Through the efforts of Frederick Hollister, of early manu- 
facturing fame in this village, the services of Rev. Williaa 
Baker were secured, and he preached here in the spring o 
1847. The present fine brick church was built in 1848-49, ai 
a cost of $17,000 to $20,000. The first meeting of the socief^ 
was held April 25, 1847, in the old school house. Mr. Baker 
at that time rector of St. Paul's Church, at Paris Hill 
preached here one Sunday in each month. Rev. William H. 
Paddock, principal of a family school at New Hartford, aidec 
in forming the society here, and meetings were held everj 
other Sunday. The corner-stone of the church was laid June 
21, 1848, by Bishop DeLancy, and the society was incorpor 
ated July 9, 1849, with twenty-one members. John Wick 
and Ezra Brown were the first church wardens, and the ves 
trymen were James H. Jennings, R. Wells Dickenson, Rile] 
W. Miller, Sterling A. Millard, Aaron B. Bligh, Fredericl 
Hollister, George Lord, Parmenas Mott. The site for thi 
church was deeded by the " Empire Mills Company," and th( 
building was consecrated by Bishop DeLancey, December 2S 
1849. Rev. P. A. Proal, D. D., of Trinity Church, Utica, wa 
the first rector of St. John's. (He was succeeded by Re^ 
Spencer M. Rice in 1850-51, and Harris G. Rogers was th 
first organist.) The present rector is Rev. J. B. Wicks, o 
Paris Hill, and the communicants number about twenty-fivt 



CLAYVILLE. 29S 

THE CLAYVILLE PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY. 

This society was inaugurated October 5, 1856, by Lloyd 
Johnson and wife, (Lloyd Johnson is one of the six survivors 
of the 178 first members of the M. E. Church at East Sauquoit 
in 1815,) Elder Warren Bragg, Mrs. Almira Bragg, J. J. Mill- 
ard, Mrs. D. J. Millard, Sarah Jane Millard. Mrs. Sally Goff, 
Mi'S. Catharine Garlock and Mrs. Elizabeth Barrows, who were 
dismissed from the Presbyterian Church at Sauquoit for that 
purpose. In November of the same year, the church was or- 
ganized by the Presbytery of Utica. The meetings were first 
held in the chamber of the store of David J. Millaid, which 
he fitted up for that purpose. Rev. Alexander McLane was the 
first "stated supply," and March 1, 1857, was succeeded by Rev. 
D. A. Hebard, who continued till February, 1858, when he 
was succeeded by Rev. Moses Earl Dunham, a member of the 
Sauquoit Presbyterian Church, and who resigned as princi- 
pal of the Sauquoit Academy to enter the ministry. In 
September, 1858, a committee of ladies started a subscription 
paper for funds to build a church. David J. Mil ard aided 
laigely in the work, and the present frame church edifice was 
built soon after. The deacons of the society, (who were also 
elders,) at the time, weie Lloyd Johnson and Warren Bragg, 
and Mr. Johnson still holds the position. Mr. Bragg was 
killed in a railway accident at Gouldsborough, Pa., in 1876, 
while en route to the Centennial Exposition. Rev. M. E. 
Dunham is now at Whitestown, N. Y. He was succeeded by 
Rev. A. C. Shaw, D. D., in 1864-, now of Fulton, N. Y ., who 
was succeeded in May, 1870, by Rev. C. H. Beebe, the present 
pastor. The officers of the society are : Church Clerk and 
Elder, Levi Mason ; Elders, Ezekiel Pierce, John B. Tomp- 
kins, N. M. Worden. The membership is about 90. A Sab- 
bath School is sustained with over 200 members, and an 
average attendance ot 150 ; the teachers number 20. Dr. 
H. W. Tompkins is Superintendent and Chorister, and Mrs. 
Tompkins Assistant Superintendent. The value of the church 
propert}^ including the parsonage, is about $8,000. The town 
meetings are held annually in the basement of this church. 



:294 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ST. Patrick's catholic church. 

The first Catholic clergyman who visited this place was 
Rev. Patrick Carraher, of St. Patrick's Church, West Utica 
some thirty years ago or more. He celebrated mass in th( 
school house. The church was organized by Rev. Fathei 
Coughlin, of Clinton, who was succeeded by Rev. Fathei 
O'Reilly, now of Clinton, under whose supervision the presem 
frame church was built about 1864, and dedicated in 1865 
In 1868, (previous to which time Father O'Reilly had at 
tended at this place, Waterville and West Winfield,) anothei 
clergyman— Rev. Philip Smith, was appointed at Waterville, 
-and also had charge at Clayville. The present pastor, Rev 
E. F. O'Connor, was appointed in 1874, and holds service 
also at West Winfield, where a church was dedicated Sept 
30, 1877. St. Patrick's parish includes about 140 families 
or some 700 individuals. Two Sunday Schools are sustained 
one at Clayville, with an attendance of about 75, superin 
tended by Michael Dempsey ; and another in the school hous^ 
at Chadwicks. The society has a beautiful cemetery on tb 
road leading from Clayville to East Sauquoit, near the Sau 
quoit Valley Cemetery. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

This society was organized sometime during the Rebellior: 
about 1863-4. The church edifice, which is a small fram 
building, is .situated on the hill above St. Patrick's Catholi 
Church, on the road leading from Clayville to the cemeteries 
Its pulpit is at present supplied by Rev. E. J. Clemens. Thi 
hill on which these two churches are built, is rendered his 
torical by a tragic event that transpired there many year 
ago. It was formerly quite steep, and (before it had beei 
graded down,) one Sunday afternoon, August 31, 1823, Mar 
Ann, wile of Anson Avery, with a lady friend, were returuini 
from the Methodist Church at East Sauquoit, where they ha( 
attended Divine service, when, upon reaching the brow of thi 
hill, and had commenced the steep descent, some portion c 
the harness gave away, and the frightened horse dashed head 
long down the declivity beyond the control of the tw 
afirighted females Near the foot of the hill Mrs. Aver 



CLAYVILLE. 295 

leaped from the wagon and was instantl}' killed; her compan- 
ion who remained in the vehicle escaped unhurt, the horse 
being checked in his headlong career some distance further 
•on. A stone was erected at the spot where she met her un- 
timel}' end, which recounted by suitable inscription her sad 
iate, which stood there for many j^ears, but finally in the 
grading of the hill it was displaced and now does duty as a 
■stepping stone to the piazza of 'Squire William H. Barnett's 
residence. 

SAUQUOIT LODGE, NO. 320, (NOW 108,) I. O. O. F. 

This lodge was instituted September 18, 184?7, by Past 
'Grand Isaac Tapping, Special Deputy Grand Master, assisted 
by P. G. Bennett as Deputy Grand Mai'shal, P. G. Curtiss as 
Deputy Grand Warden, P. G. Thomas as Deputy Grand Sec- 
retary, P. G. Baldwin as Deputy Grand Treasurer, and the 
following officers duly installed : N. W. Moore, N. G. ; M. C. 
F. Barber, V. G. ; I. D. Davenport, Recoi-diiig Secretary ; W. 
H. Barnett, Permanent Secretary ; F. S. Savage, Treasurer. 

Charter Members other than above Officers — F. M. Knight, 
H. W. Wilcox, G. H. Ferris, Lyman Avery, I. H. Gillett, 
Henry Dunning, George LonI, H. M. Carter, Benjamin Moore, 
J. M. Owen, J. F. Hopkins, Hiram Rogers, M. M. Neal and 
•S. Segar. 

The lodge first held its meetings at East Sauquoit, in the 
hall over the store of Erastus Everett, just then ei'ected, (now 
Miller & Nichols' store, and the hall is the printing rooms of 
the Sauquoit Valley Register,) and until January, 1850, when 
they removed to Union Hall (now Masonic Hall) at West 
Sauquoit. The lodge at its organization took the number 
"320," but upon the union of the two Grand Lodges in the 
State, in October, 18G7, it was ranked No. 108, its present 
number. It held its meetings in Union Hall, Sauquoit, for a 
•period of twenty-eight years, when in January, 1878, it 
removed to Clayville. The lodge, besides suffering a loss of 
nearly two thousand dollars by the failure of the Ontario 
Branch Bank many years ago, has disbursed a large sum in 
its charities. 'Squire W. H Barnett, the permanent .secretary 
at its organization, estimates: "we have paid for the relief of 



296 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

members of the lodge, between twelve thousand and fifteei 
thousand dollars, besides several thousand dollars for othe 
charitable purposes," which is a magnificent record, of whicl 
any society may well be proud. 

OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES. 

Lodges of Rechabites and Sons of Temperance have existe( 
here in bye-gone days, and there is a flourishing Lodge of th 
Independent Order of Good Templars hei'e, well officered an< 
with a large membership, instituted soon after the Lodge o 
Sauquoit. 

PETTEE POST, NO. 89, G, A. R. 

This organization, which formerly existed here, has beei 
disbanded. It was named in honor of Sergeant Williar 
Pettee, of the l^Gth Infantry, who was missing and suppose 
to have been killed at the Battle of the Wilderness, Va., Ma; 
5. 1864, as he was never heard of afterwards. He was a so 
of Aaron E. Pettee, an early settler, many years deacon ( 
the Presbyterian Church at Sauquoit, a prominent busines 
man at Cla3'ville, in the foundry business — " Pettee's Plough 
being a household word among the old time farmers. He wa 
afterward town clerk and postmastei' at Clayville for a Ion 
time, and died a few years since, respected by all. Anotlie 
of his sons — Robert — fell at the battle of Fredericksburgl 
under General Burnside, mortally wounded, in laying th 
pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River, Deceuibe 
1862. 

THE UNION SCHOOL. 

This school occupies a large two-story brick building ere( 
ted in 1876, at a cost (including the furnace for heating th 
building,) of $6,000. The school has three departments- 
primary, intermediate and advanced — with an average at 
tendance of about 175. It is conducted by three teachers — 
principal and two assistant teachers. The officers of th 
school board are: President, William H. Barnett; Clei-k, A. t 
Rhodes. 

The office of the town clerk has been located at Clayvill 



CLAYVILLE. 297" 

for many years. The present town clerk is Richard S. Giles, 
and the present postmater is ' Squire Ezekiel Pierce. On the 
hill west of Clayville, the settlement was commenced earlier 
than at Paris Furnace. Among these settlers were Colonel 
Bentley, Deacon Charles Allen and David Budlong, living on 
the road leading from the Burning Spring to Cassville, which 
was the only road for many years in that direction, no road 
being built up the valley along the creek until later on. This 
road crossed the Dexter gulf about twenty rods west of the 
present crossing, on logs piled up " cob hou.se fashion," forming 
a bridge. A few years later, after saw mills were in oper- 
ation, a frame bridge spanned the gulf about ten rods west of 
the present road, which was used until 1816, when Allyn 
Gilbert contracted with the road commissioners and con- 
structed the " fill," with earth, where the road now crosses at 
Dexter's pond, rendered historical by the suicide by drowning 
of Mrs. N. Randall. September 12, 1870. Colonel Bentley was 
born in Stonington, R. I., in 1766, and was married to Nancy 
Allen. He settled here in 1799, where he ever afterward re- 
sided, much respected, and died September, 1850, aged S-i. 
His children were Hannah, Benjamin and Jo.seph A, the well 
known " trooper," who joined the cavaby in 1828, and tri)oped 
four days each year until about the year 1843, when they dis- 
banded. Another surviving veteran of the troop, who lived 
in the neighborhood at an early day, was Frederick G. Rob- 
bins, who removed to Bridgewater many years ago, where he^ 
has ever since resided, a prominent man in that town. Joseph 
A. Bentley was born in Stonington, R. I., in 1796, and came 
with his parents on to the farm where he now lives, when a 
child three years old, married Judith Williams in the year 
1818, and now in the evening of live — 84 years of age — with 
his son, Col. Bentley, on the old homestead, he enjoys good 
health and vigor. Josiah Booth was an early prominent 
settler west of the Bentley farm. In the year 1841, he 
started on a journey to the West to visit his son, Lemuel 
Booth, of Salem, Kenosha county, Wis. Reaching Bufialo^ 
N. Y., he took passage, Monday, August 9, 1841, on the ill- 
fated steamboat Erie. The boat was crowded with passen- 
gers and emigrants going west, among whom were some- 
painters en route to Dunkirk to do a job of work, with, 



298 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

their paint pots and cans of turpentine, which they placed on 
the deck, as it chanced, directly over the boilers. Some of 
the deck hands removed the inflammable materials to a safer 
position. The painters, by and by, missing their cans, &;c., 
made search, and when found, replaced them in the danger- 
ous place over the boilers, where by this time — they having 
been several hours on the course — the deck at this point had 
become greatly heated, and soon after, the cans of turpentine 
exploded with a loud report, scattering the burning turpen- 
tine in all directions, and instantly the steamboat was in 
flames. Frantic effcirts were made by the crew, assisted by 
the passengers, to extinguish the fire, but in vain, as it spread 
rapidly, and many of the frightened passengers leaped over- 
board. Meantime, the captain gave orders to the pilot to 
head her for the shore, a few miles distant, and " beach her," 
that the passengers then might possibly reach the land. The 
brave pilot obeyed the order, and with all steam on, the burn- 
ing boat forged ahead at full speed towards the shore, the 
flames rapidly gaining headway and enveloping the upper 
works, and very soon reached the pilot house above, where 
stood the brave pilot at the wheel, heading the boat to the 
shore. The flames leaped madly towards him, from which 
shrinking, he, at arms' length, still grasped the wheel and 
guided her shoreward. Could he hold out a few minutes 
longer and keep her on her course hundreds of lives might be 
saved. Already his brawny arm, on which so many precious 
lives depended, was scorched, blackened and blistered by the 
fast advancing, relentless flames, but he stood to his post. 
The captain through his trumpet shouted to learn " if he 
could hold her to her course a minute longer." "Aye, aye, 
sir, I'll try," came the brave response from the pilot house, 
even then surrounded by smoke and flames. They were the 
last words of that gallant hero, who so bravely performed his 
duty to the last, and died at his post. No hero on any battle 
field ever more noV)ly went to his death. A com])lete list of 
the passengers was never obtained. Two or three hundred 
reached the shore in safety or were picked up by the boats 
that went to their assistance. It was supposed that not less 
than 300 perished. The coroner reported 170 bodies re- 
covered and buried, but many doubtless floated away. The 



CLAYVILLE. ■ 299 

body of Josiah Booth floated, and nearly a month after — 
September 2, — was taken from the water and buried by 
strangers at Evans, Erie Co., September 3. Schuyler Hub- 
bard, of Paris Hill, the skillful detective, visited the scene of 
the disaster for the purpose of recovering his remains, in 
which he succeeded, September 13. The money belt which 
he wore about him, containing several hundred dollars, de- 
signed for his son Lemuel, in Wisconsin, whom he was on 
his way to visit, was found intact, and the money undisturbed. 
His remains were brought home and interred in the old bury- 
ing ground at West Sauquoit, September 19, 1841, and a 
headstone erected, recounting the tragic manner of his un- 
timel}' end. His remains have since been removed, and he 
now reposes in the Valley Cemetery. He was born in 1777, 
and was 64 years of age when he died. His descendants still 
occupy the old homestead farm, two of whom — Ricks and 
Albert — have met with tragic deaths by their own hands. 
Another tragic death occurred in the neighborhood a few 
years since, on the farm adjoining the Bentley farm on the 
north. Charles L. Matteson was fatally shot by a pistol in the 
hands of his insane and demented brother, Perrine D. Matte- 
son. They were sons of Jared D. Matteson, (recently de- 
ceased,) a prominent farmer and cattle dealer, for many years 
residing near Tassel Hill, but who succeeded some years since 
to the James Rhodes farm, on which the tragedy occurred. 
Rev. Samuel F. Dexter formerly lived at Dexter Pond. He 
was a clei-gyman of the sect known as Christians, and also at 
an early period a skillful dentist. Dr. A. N. Priest, of Utica, 
and Dr. William Perkins, of Baldwinsville, N. Y., studied the 
profession with him, as well as his son, Henry Dexter, the 
dentist, of Sauquoit. Some years ago he purchased the old 
machine shop building of the old Farmers' Factory at South 
Sauquoit, which he took down and removed " piece meal" to 
the Dexter pond, where he re-erected the building, utilizing 
the power of the spring brook that forms the pond there, 
thence flowing down through the deep ravine to the east and 
past the residence of Hon. Eli Avery and into the Sauquoit 
creek. The building was used for a variety of purposes ; a 
cider mill, a run of stone put in for grinding feed, and also 
for the Paris Chair Factorv. Rev. S. F. Dexter was a vet- 



300 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

eran Free Mason, made in Sauquoit Lodge in 1852, and is 
now an honorary raennber of that Lodge. He removed to 
a distant part of the State a few years since, and at present 
writing. Dr. H. W. Tompkins is the only resident dentist at 
Clayville. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CASSVILLE — (PARIS HOLLOW.) 



Cassville was the fifth and last settlement in the town of 
Paris, and is situated on the Sauquoit creek, two miles south 
of Clayville, near the south line of the town, where the creek, 
flowing from the west, forms a horse-shoe bend and takes its 
course north through the Valley and to the Mohawk river. 
It is 1,200 feet above the level of the sea. and 775 feet above 
the Mohawk. It was settled in 1803, and the pioneers were 
Araasa Burchard, Elias and Mark Hopkins, and Eleazer Kel- 
logg, and by the early settlers it was called " Toad Holler," 
by which name it was known for many years. About the 
year 1830, a postofiice was established here under the name 
of Paris Hollow, with Dr. Aaron B. Bligh as the first postmas- 
ter. In the year 1835, the name was changed to Cassville, in 
honor of General Lewis Cass, and Dr. A. B. Bligh re-appointed 
— the first po.stmaster of Cassville. Amasa Burchard built 
the first house in the "Hollow" and Elias Hopkins built a 
saw mill on the site of the present grist mill there, which was 
the first mill of any kind on the creek above Paris Furnace 
except the grist mill (above Clayville) built by John Budlong 
the previous year. Amasa Burchard soon after built the 
present grist mill on the site of the Hopkins saw mill, and a 
few rods below, in 1804, erected a carding and fulling mill on 
the site, afterwards, by Caleb Hoag (now of Preble, N. Y.) 
converted into a tub factory, and later on, by Robert W. Ses- 
sion into a cheese factory, and further down the creek, oppo- 



CASSVILLE. 301 

site the present resideuce of Milton Waldron, the gunsmith, 
he erected a saw mill, — the remains of the old dam are still 
to be seen there. The village, first settled in the Hollow, 
gradually extended up the bluff to the south, a distillery 
being erected on each side of the road leading from the grist 
mill up the bluff, one erected by Thompson Snell and the 
other by Marsh & Stanley. There were built in succession 
a tavern, store, dwelling houses and church on the bluff, or 
plateau — the dividing ridge between the Sauquoit and the 
Unadilla,— the waters on this plateau flowing south — the 
great water-shed of the Susquehanna. The tavern was erect- 
ed at an early day by Michael Foster, who was succeeded by 
Mr. Tripp and others, the last tavern-keepers being the Briggs 
Brothers, grandsons of Lieut. Spencer Briggs, and a few years 
since it was torn down and removed, Norman Merrill, the 
merchant, erecting a fine residence on the site. The present 
hotel is a new frame building on the west side of the road 
leading up the bluff, (and on the south side of the railroad,) 
owned and kept by the popular and obliging landlord, David 
Morris, who also has a coal yard near by, and in the beautiful 
glen some thirty rods west, on the south branch of the Sau- 
quoit, has erected extensive trout ponds, stocked with speck- 
led trout, and in the grove on the bluff at that point, ample 
" pic nic " grounds, all laid out with picturesque taste, and is 
a favorite summer resort. Down the railroad east of the vil- 
lage is situated the depot, at Richfield Junction, where the 
railroad branches off south (through a deep cut through the 
bluff,) for Richfield Springs. Across the railroad track east 
of the depot is a popular hotel kept by Mr. R. Henry. 
Parmeas Mott was an early merchant in the old store, after- 
wards Calvin A. Budlong, and then Norman Merrill. Mr. C 
A. Budlong afterwards erected a new store on the opposite 
corner where the plank road entered the village; removino- to 
Aurora, III., a few years since, he was succeeded by Thomas 
H. Hughes, and the store is now carried on by Mr. Seaman 
Newell A. Johnson had a store here for many years in the 
south part of the village on the road leading to Bridgewater • 
he has lately retired, carrying on his farm there. He carried 
on the Millard store near the site of the old Paris furnace for 
some years. He is a grandson of the pioneer, Sampson John- 



302 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

son. Nathan Randall, a soldier of the Revolutionary war^ 
came to Paris from Connecticut, in 1799, and settled north of 
the villacje, to which he removed in 1807. His two sons, Abel 
and Bishop T./were veterans of the war of 1812, both now 
deceased. Bishop T. Randall residing on the old homestead 
during his life tin^e, dying a few months since from injuries 
received from a vicious heifer. He was a much respected 
and influential citizen. Sion Rhodes was born in Warwick, 
R. L, September 30, 1789, and came to Cassville at an early 
day, where he resided through his long and useful life, going 
to his rest August 7, 1864, aged 74. The Monroe family 
were early prominent settlers on the "south branch." Jonas 
Monroe died February 28, 1836, aged 66 ; Hiram Monroe 
died June 12, 1872, aged 60; a sister (Harriet) surviving, 
and living on the old homestead farm with Charles Hotchkiss, 
who succeeded to the farm. The Brownell family were early 
settlers on the " Monroe road," Ezekiel P. Brownell now resid- 
ing on the old homestead. Near the Mouroe farm on the 
south branch George Smith (now of Smithport, Pa.,) in com- 
pany with R. A Webb, erected a tannery and carding mill in 
the year 1826, and carried them on for several years. Nothing 
now remains on the site, except the ruins of their dam. Fur- 
ther down on the stream near the road leading to Paris Hill, 
which the branch crosses, are the ruins of a dam where stood 
a saw mill at an early day. Below the road on this stream. 
Grove W. Bagg had works where he manufactured hay-forks, 
hoes and agricultural implements about the year 1850. The 
only power now occupied on the south branch is the carding 
mill, saw mill and cider mill of Alonzo Burdick, a short dis- 
tance above the trout ponds of David Morris. John, Joseph 
and David Budlong were pioneers north of the village on the 
old original main road leading along the high ground from 
the Burning spring at Sauquoit to Cassville, settling there in 
1799; two other brothers, Beujamin and Aaron, came about 
the same time and settled in Litchfield, all coming from Not-' 
wich Landing, R. I. Benjamin and David were both Baptist 
ministers and prominently connected with the establishment 
of, and the early hi.story of the Baptist church at Cassville. 
Deacon Charles Allen settled on the "old main road" in 1799 
and was the first deacon of the old Baptist church erected in 



CASSVILLE. 303 

that neicrhborhood, the society afterwards erecting a church 
at the villaoje. His son, Charles Allen, Jr., was also a deacon 
in the church, holding the position nearly fifty years. Elder 
James Rhodes also settled in about the same time, and later 
on Caleb Green, a veteran of the war of 1812, also John M 
Hammet and Deacon John Lohnas, all prominent early set- 
tlers, good men, of strict morals, and among the founders of 
the Baptist church there. 

At that earl\' day no road led up the Valle}' above the Paris 
furnace along the creek to Cassville, and in order to reach the 
creek, John Budlong opened a road fiom the "old main road" 
down to the creek, where he erected a grist-mill, three-fourths 
of a mile above Clayville, about the year 1802; his brother, 
Eev. David Budlong, (who in early life was a ship carpenter, 
and a skilled mechanic,) aiding him in its erection. Years 
afterward, this grist-mill was carried on by Amos Wilcox • 
then for many yearH by Zebina Johnson and his son, Morris 
M. Johnson, (now a merchant at Sauquoit — Savage & 'John- 
son ;) J. M. Jenning, the present occupant, finally succeedino- 
to the old pioneer Budlong mill. The Budlong family and 
their many descendants, have contributed largely to the 
growth and prosperity of Cassville and its surroundings, prom- 
inent among whom was Dr. Baizilla Budlong, the accomplished 
life-long resident physician there, who also during his brief 
life held many offices of trust and responsibility, and was 
elected Supervisor in 1860, '01 and '62, and died May 3, 1868, 
aged 62. Dr. Albert D. Barnum, who studied with Dr. Bud- 
long, has since been the resident physician and surgeon there. 
His brother, Herbert H. Barnum, postmaster, and partner of 
Norman Merrill in the store, has recently moved away. Abel, 
'Squire David and Ezra Budlong weie also influential citi- 
zens there. 

The Sweet family were early prominent settlers, a dauo-hter 
still residing there, (wife of Abel Budlong.) Reuben, after 
residing many years there, removed to Clinton, where he now 
resides; Martin L. and James reside at Grand Rapids, Mich, 
and Thomas Sweet resides at Flint, Mich. 'Squire William 
Gallup is an early settler, residing on the "old main road" 
north of the village. He was born March 18, 1796, in Volun- 
town, Windham county, Ct., and came to Paris in February, 



304 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

1815, first settling ou the east side of the creek, and afterwards 
removing to his present residence. He was elected Justice oi 
the Peace in 1839, which office he held until 1852, with the 
exception of one year; was elected Supervisor in 1856, and 
Justice of the Peace again in 1859.-60. He is one of the vet- 
eran members of the Baptist church, and for many years 
clerk of the society, and, lull of honors, at the advanced age 
of 84, with his aged wife, (a daughter of Rev. David Budlong, 
the pioneer,) both in good health, spend the evening of life 
with their son, David B. Gallup, at the old homestead, adjoin- 
ing the farm of H. W. Anderson, a prominent man in town 
affairs. 

Hon. Justus Childs was born in Connecticut, September 21, 
1809, and came to Paris about the year 1831. He resided 
east of Cassville ou the stone road, and was an extensive 
farmer — his farm being one of the " model farms " in town. 
He was a popular man in town, and filled many offices of 
trust and responsibility. He was elected Supervisor in 1857, 
and was Member of Assembly in 1843-44. He was a promi- 
nent Freemason, "made" in Sauquoit Lodge, No. 150, F. and 
A. M., in 1855. He was one of the prime movers in building 
the stone road which extended from Winfield north, over 
Babcock Hill and along down past his residence into the Val- 
ley, uniting with the plank road near the old Budlong grist- 
mill, above Cla3^ville. The plank road was built in 1847-48, 
extending south from Utica over Cemetery Hill and to Wash- 
ington Mills, and up the Sauquoit Valley through Cassville, 
and thence to Bridgewater. The stone road was made with 
two parallel strips of flagging stone about sixteen inches wide, 
laid down at a distance from each other that would enable 
the wheels of a wagon to travel thereon, the intervening 
space whereon the horse traveled being " macadamized." 
The Stone Road Company was organized June 23, 1849, at 
the house of James Johnson, in Bridgewater, with the fol- 
lowing Board of Directors : Newton Wilcox, Hon. Peleg B. 
Babcock, Frederick S. Savage, Hon. Justus Childs and Zebina 
Johnson, The toll-gates were removed a few years since, and 
the road thrown open to the public. He died May 24, 1868, 
at the age of 59. His obituary, in the Utica Observer, says : 
"He was gifted with superior intelligence and an excellent 



CASSVILLE. 305 

constitution ; and was chai-acterized by active habits and 
large business capacity, with marked public spirit. Always 
one of the most prominent citizens of his town, he was repeat- 
edly its Supervisor, and also represented his district in the 
State Assembly. In all the relations of life, as well as in an 
official capacity, his conduct was distirjguished by integrity, 
conscientiousness and good judgment, and his death will be 
lamented by all who knew him. He leaves a large family, 
among whom are Messrs. J. M. and W. B. Childs, ot Utica, 
and a large circle of friends, to mourn his loss." Hon. James 
Corbett, for many years commercial traveler for David J. Mil- 
lard, and who was Member of Assembly in 1877, purchased 
the valuable Childs farm on the stone road. George W. 
Chapman, son of the pioneer, Stephen Chapman, and L. C. 
Randall, are both prominent farmers in that vicinity. Fur- 
ther to the north in that vicinity are the families of Pierces, 
Risings, Swans, Waldrons, Hopkins, C. H. Johnson, and Rid- 
ers — all large landholders and prominent farmers, Wakeman 
Rider being the largest landholder residing in town, althouo-h 
much of his land lies in the adjoining town of Litchfield. 

On the road west of Cassville, leading to Paris Hill, are 
located many prominent influential farmers, among whom are 
Stephen Thomas and Miles Cossiitt, son of Roswell Cossitt, the 
pioneer distiller at the little settlement there, called "Tophet," 
and who settled there in 1801, and built a distiller}', Asa 
Stanton, an early settler, resides near there on the old Stan- 
ton homestead, and further along Joshua P. Tompkins resides 
on the old Tompkins faim,a prominent, influential man there, 
where his father, Deacon Nathaniel Tompkins, one of the 
pioneers, settled early in the century and erected a distillery, 
which he carried on for many years. A Welsh Church for- 
merly existed at "Tophet," erected as a union church by 
several Welsh .societies, but was finally absorbed by the 
church at Waterville and the society here disbanded. Val 
Pierce, a veteran of the war of 1812, and Isaac Welton, both 
wealthy and influential farmers, were early settlers further 
along the Paris Hill road. 

T 



306 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Josiah W. Bagg was born ia Pittsfield, Mass., in June, 1787, 
•was married to Sarah R. Burt, daughter of Deacon Burt, of 
Pittstield, and about the year 1810 removed with his wife 
and family to New Hartford, and afterwards removed to Cass- 
ville. He was in the war of 1812, and served under General 
White, at Sacketts Harbor, in 1814. They had seven chil- 
dren, four daughters and three sons: Phebe F., now Mrs. Geo. 
Barnard, of Westmoreland, Sarah A., now Mrs. V. R. Patter- 
son, Cold Water, Mich., May Elizabeth and Harriet Emily^ 
the two latter deceased. The sons: Thomas A., J. Martin, 
and Grove W., are living. -Josiah W. Bagg, veteran of 1812, 
died September, 1870, at the advanced age of 83. Grove W. 
Bagg, the youngest son, was the first and only resident lawyer 
in the town of Paris. Educated at DeLancey Institute, in the 
village of Hampton, and after receiving a classical course he, 
in 1845, commenced the study of the law in the office of 
William and Charles Tracy, in the city of Utica. He was 
admitted to the bar at Troy, N. Y., in 1848, — his diploma 
bearing the signatures of those eminent jurists. Judge Amasa 
J. Parker, Ira Harris and Malborn Watson. Early in the 
year 1849, he took up his residence in Cassville, having mar- 
ried N. Jane Budlong, eldest daughter of 'Squire David Bud- 
long of that place, in June, 1848. He held the office of school 
commissioner from 1856-(30, and continued his practice of law 
at Cassville until 1870, (a period of 21 years in the town,) 
when he removed to Utica, where he now resides, still prac- 
ticing his profession ; his law partner being Hon. George W. 
Smith, of Herkimer, and assisted in the office by his son, 
Charles M. Bagg. 

Georo-e Smith, an early manufacturer oq the Sauquoit, was 
born in Templeton. Mass., December 30, 1791, soon after 
which his parents removed to New Hampshire, and at the age 
of 13 he was apprenticed to a Mr. Bonny at the tanners 
trade, serving seven years. He came to Paris, April 1, 1815, 
and commenced work at carding and cloth dressing with Geo. 
Wheeler, at the carding mill on the site of Savage & Moore's 
old paper mill, torn down some years since, where he worked 
five years : four^years for Wheeler and the last year running 
the mill for himself. January 2, 1818, he married Fanny Gil- 
bert, oldest daughter of Theodore Gilbeit, the valley pioneer. 



CASSVILLE. 307 

la the year 1820-21, he worked a farm on the hill-road be- 
tween the Burning Spring and Beutley's, (the Deacon Curtiss 
farm.) He then moved to the " head" of the Sauquoit creek, 
above Cassville — then called " Toad Holler" — an i run the 
vSeabury Scovil sawmill three years, and then went to the 
town of Columbus and worked one year at the cardino- and 
cloth business. In 182G, in company with R. A. Webb, he built 
a tannery and carding mill on the south branch of the Sau- 
quoit, one-half mile above Cassville, carrying' on both trades 
seven years. He next went to the Avery place, just below 
Paris Furnace, (Clayville,) and run a carding mill two years 
.He next went to Cassville, and run the Burchard cardino- mill 
two years, and then to the Abner Bacon caiding mill at Sau- 
quoit, below the Mould Bro.'s grist mill, where he remained 
one year. In 1837 he went to Smithport, Pa., and went into 
the carding business, and an 1838 removed his family there, 
where, at the advanced age of 89 years, he resides with his 
son, ' Squire G. Martin Smith, enjoying good health, although 
lie has been blind since 1872. His wife, Fanny Gilbert, born 
in the old pioneer log house, at the Burning Spring, died July 
17, 1862, aged 61. Besima, his oldest daughter, makes her 
home with his son Martin. Harriet, the other of his three 
children, wife of Alonzo Green, formerly of Paris, resides in 
JEaton county, Mich Of the different carding mills, tanneries 
and sawmills in which he worked, not one of them is in ex- 
istence to-day. The Wheeler mill at the bottom of the lane, 
Jeading down from near the Burning Spring to the cteek, (the 
paper mill afterward,) went to ruin some years ago, and a 
remnant of the foundation stones and trace of the old dam is 
all that remains to mark the spot. No vestige of the tan- 
nery and carding mill above Cassville remains except a trace 
of the dam, and on the site of the Burchard mill at Cassville* 
is a cheese factory. The railroad, as it enters Clayville, passes 
over the site of the scene of his labor there ; the heavy em- 
bankment obliterating all traces of the old carding mill, and 
the Seabury Scovil sawmill, near the head of the creek, shared 
a similar fate ; the railroad passing directly through the dam, 
the mill being torn down. The old Abner Bacon carding mill, 
at Sauquoit — dismantled and idle — was burned about 1863, 
and the Mould Bros, in lowering their race for their grist mill 



308 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

wiped out all traces of that also. Thus one by one the oldi 
landmarks of the pioneer manufacturers pass away. 



HISTORY OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT CASSVILLE, BY REV. LAN- 
SING BAILEY, A FORMER PASTOR OF THAT CHURCH. 

At the close of the last century, the region of country in 
which the village of Cassville is located, was comparatively a 
wilderness; extensive forests for the most part covering the 
tields which are now so well cultivated, and present to the 
eye much landscape beauty and much evidence of thrift. 
But a goodly number of sturdy Baptists, who loved the word 
of God and desired to maintain its doctrines, had already 
planted themselves in the vicinity, with the view of reducing, 
the forest, and obtaining a livelihood as cultivators of the soil. 
They were not as yet organized as a religious body, but de- 
sired the enjoyment of the more public means of grace. About 
the 3'ear 1799, two Christian ladies, one the wife of David 
Budlong, and the other of Charles Allen, Sr., ostensibly for a 
family visit, mounted their horses and rode through the forest 
to the residence of Mr. Benjamin Budlong, nine miles distant ; 
in what is now the town of Frankfort. During their stay, they 
took occasion to lay before Mr. Budlong the religious condi- 
tion of their neighborhood, and as he was well known as an 
exemplary Christian, and gifted in prayer and exhortation, 
they invited him to visit them with the view to holding re- 
ligious service. He accepted their invitation, and an appoint- 
ment was made for him. Finding encouragement, he made 
other appointments, and so continued from Sabbath to Sab- 
bath. This was the beginning on his yjart of labors which 
were continued over thirty 3'ears, and were richly blessed of 
Heaven. 

It was not long after the commencement of these labors 
that a startling event occurred. One morning a Mr. Charles 
Davis left his home for the residence of a neighbor who had 
requested his assistance in some work he desired to have 
done, but on reaching the threshold of the neighbor's h(juse, 
Tie fell and immediately expired. This produced a profound 
sensation among the people, which, however, was turned to 
good account by the Spirit in the more thorough awakening. 



CASSVILLE. 309 

of believers, the returu of backsliders, and the cou version of 
sinners. 

Encouraged and strengthened, the company of disciples 
now began to contemplate organization. On the 22d of May 
1802, a meeting was held at the residence of David Budlong, 
to confer upon the subject. They then determined upon the 
the mode of procedure ; and adjourned, for more definite 
action, to the loth of the following month. At the second 
meeting, after relating to each other their Christian experi- 
ence and views of gospel order, they adopted what was called 
a "covenant," by which they agreed "as a body of Christians 
t(j worship together, to use their best powers and faculties to 
promote the good cause of the Redeemer, and to seek each 
other's welfare in a Christian travel." To this about fifteen 
names were at once appended. Others were very soon added. 
Not long after a Confession of Faith was adopted, to which, 
aside from its too limited range of subjects, very little excep- 
tion could be taken ; and also articles of discipline, and order 
for the regulation of chu>ch action. At a subsequent period, 
but precisely when we ai"e not informed, another and a more 
comprehensive set was adopted. 

On the 16th of December, of the same year, in compliance 
with a call previously made, a council convened at the resi- 
dence of Mr. Joseph Budlong, with a view to their recoa^nition 
and fellowship as a regular Baptist Church. It consisted of 
delegates from the First Baptist Church in Pans, located in 
•what is now the town of Marshall, the church in Brookfield, 
and the First and Second in Litchfield. After the usual exam- 
ination, the Council unanimously agreed to give them "fellow- 
ship as a Church of Christ in gospel order." The right hand 
of fellow.ship was accordingly extended by Elder Vining, the 
Moderator. The name assumed was "The Second Baptist 
•Church of Paris." 

The first case of discipline occurred in May, 1803, and the 
second in June. In the latter case, absence from the cove- 
nant meeting for nearly three months, was one of the charges 
preferred. We are not certain that a return to such an order 
of things would not be advisable. Mr. Benjamin Budlong 
continued his visits weekly, faithfully endeavoring to instruct 
.and encourage the little baud, coming from his distant home 



310 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

and returning, often on foot, with very little compensation.. 
The question now gained some currency among the brethren,, 
whether the man who was serving them so faithfully and 
almost gratuitously, should not receive ordination as a minis- 
ter of the gospel. It first found public expression at a church 
meeting held in June, 1803, but no definite action was taken; 
until nearly a year later, when it was determined to call a 
council for his ordination. The council met June 14, 1804, 
and consisted of delegates from the First and Second Brook- 
field, the Third Burlington, and the Second Litchfield churches. 
The candidate sustained the examination, and, in connection • 
with .services usual upon such occasions, was duly ordained. 
Charles Allen, Sr., seems to have been the first deacon of the 
church, and was appointed about this time. 

Years passed on, and so far as the record shows, very little 
of special interest transpired. Elder Budlong continued to 
render weekly service to the church until about the year 
1813. At that time a few Baptists residing in a part of the 
town of Litchfield more nearly adjacent to his residence, 
associated together for religious worship, and applied to the 
Second Church in Paris to be received as members, and 
recognized as a hrcmdi. They were so received and recog- 
nized. And r— '^% as they desired to share in the services of 
the pastor, at ms request, he was so far released from his 
obligations to the parent church as to be able to give to the 
branch one-fourth of his time. His interest in the latter 
increasing, he soon so far withdrew from the older body as to 
divide his time equally between the two; an arrangement 
that continued for fifteen years. 

It was in the year 1813 that Deacon Charles Allen resigned 
his oflSce, and James Rhodes was selected to till the place. 
During all this time the church had no house of worship, but 
services were held from house to house among the members. 
A more commodious place, however, was needed, and in 1815 
one was elected upon what is called "the upper road," leading 
to Clayville, about a mile from Cassville. The first public 
service held in it was in November of that year. The Lord 
accepted the offering, and soon sent them a refreshing from 
His presence, which gave them over forty additional members. 
The early part of 1816 marks the date of a revival, all the 



CASSVILLE. 311 

fruits of which have uot even yet passed away. Numbers of 
the converts became steadfast workers, bearing the burden and 
the heat for many a year. Among them we should not for- 
bear to mention Deacon Charles Allen, Jr., who was spared 
to the church, after his conversion, nearly fifty years. That 
he was an excellent officer, and a man of strong faith and 
heavenly Sf)irit, many will bear willing testimony, while his 
prayers and faithful services for the cause of his Master will 
long be held in remembrance. Few men of his station in life, 
have been such a power for good as he. 

It is worthy of record, that of the converts of the revival 
mentioned, ten lived and held to the profession of their faith 
in Christ over half a century. Of these, seven continued for 
that period members of this church, and three, William 
Gallup, Abel Budlong and John M. Hammatt, even yet 
remain. Of those who have passed away, special mention 
should be made of Caleb Green, as he was a n)an of stern 
integrity, unflagging zeal for the service of his Lord, and one 
who, in an eminent sense, knew how to pray. 

The names of James Rhodes and David Budlong occur fre- 
quently in the early history of this body, as they were active 
in its organization, and among its most efficient supporters 
afterward. These brethren faithfully iniproved their gifts, 
publicly exhorting and testifying concerning the taith in 
Christ, until the people were generally impres.sed with the 
belief that they had been called of God to the ministry, 
though one of them had already .seen his forty-second, and 
the other his sixtieth birthday. Their labors were not con- 
fined to the neighborhood in which they resided, but they 
endeavored to render themselves useful in regions beyond. 

Mr. Rhodes performed some service in Litchfield, and so 
acceptable was it that a request came from that locality that 
he be set apart by ordination. This met with a favorable re- 
sponse, and measures were taken for calling a council. 

In a few days it was determined to present Brother Bud- 
lon.'j- as an additional candidate. The council met May 29, 
1823, representing the Schuyler, the First and Second Winfield 
the Edmeston and the Warren churches. The examination of 
the candidates proved satisfactory, and they received ordi- 
nation as Evangeliists. 



312 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Some furthei- referenCvi should be luade to Elder Benjamin 
Budlong. As we have said, he continued for fifteen years to 
preach for the church on alternate Sabbaths; that is, until 
1829, when, on account of his advancing years, he reduced 
his service to one-third of the time, an arrangement which con- 
tinued until the autumn of 1831, when his labors closed alto- 
gether. On the intermeiliate Sabbaths the pulpit was occu- 
pied by one or the other of the brethren whose ordination 
has just been noticed. 

For a considerable period the three served jointly, alter- 
nating with more or less of regularity with each other, and 
all depending for material support upon the farms they tilled. 
They were all good men, having the good of the cause at 
heart; yet their position, it would seem, was not adapted to 
the utmost harmony among the people, as divisions arose simi- 
lar to what Paul describes as having taken place at Corinth, 
when some said they were for Paul, and some for Apollos, and 
others for Cephas. 

Father Budlong is represented as having been a man of 
clear and vigorous intellect, of devoted and steadfast piety ; 
sound in the faith, and an earnest promoter of Christian mis- 
sions. He was highly esteemed by his brethren in the minis- 
try, and was generally much beloved. He finally rested from 
nis labors, and went to his heavenly reward in September, 
1833, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and the thirty-first 
of his ministerial life, leaving a name fragrant with precious 
memories. His brother David does not seem to have been 
wanting in religious ardor, for we learn of his holding meet- 
ings at one time in a neighborhood upon the east side of Sau- 
quoit creek, which resulted in the addition of ten or a 
dozen hopeful converts to the church ; and Elder Rhodes was 
a man of like spirit, for we hear of him preaching the Gospel 
to an infant church organized ou Babcock Hill, which church, 
however, does not appear to have outlived its infancy. 

In the autumn of 1831, on the withdrawal of the elder 
Budlong, a new order of things was inaugurated. For some- 
time the question had been agitated of having a pastor who 
should give his whole time to the service of the church. 
Those who favored this plan succeeded in accomplishing their 
purpose, and at the time above mentioned, Rev. J. J. Wolsey 



CASSVILLE. 813 

was engaged to serve them. At first it was for one-half of 
his time only, but in the following spring he was employed 
for the whole. It was difficult to secure harmonious action, as 
there was considerable opposition to a " hireling ministr}'," 
but in other respects he commenced his labors under favorable 
auspices, as there was at the time an encouraging state of re- 
ligious interest. This culminated in a precious work of grace> 
resulting in numerous conversions and additions to the church. 
Nor did the revival spirit soon subside. The preaching of 
the Word was effective, and the baptismal waters were fre- 
quently visited throughout Mr. Wolsey's pastorate. 

But a new element of discord ai'ose. The question of 
abandoning the old locality and of erecting a new house of 
worship in the village of Cassville was discussed, and that 
with considerable warmth. It was decided affirmatively 
however, and at Cassville the new edifice was erected ; but 
some of the older members were long in becoming reconciled. 
It was completed in 1832, and appropriately dedicated ; Dr. 
Nathaniel Kendrick, of Hamilton, preaching the sermon. 

Mr. Wolsey's stay was brief In the spriug^of 1833, he re- 
signed, and was followed by Rev. Zelora Eaton. The church 
continued prosperous under the labors of this brother, and as 
jarring elements arising from change of locality and other 
causes naturally subsided, a more quiet state of things pre- 
vailed. 

During the winter following his settlement, the church was 
favored with a spiritual harvest. He was assisted in a series 
of meetings by Rev. P. P. Brown, which resulted in numer- 
ous conversions and an addition of considerable numerical 
strength. Indeed, baptisms were quite frequent during the 
whole of his term of service as pastor. Among those to 
whom he administered the rite were Bela Palmer and Thomas 
P. Childs, both of whom devoted themselves to the Christian 
ministry, and acquired a j^jood reputation in their profession. 
Mr. Eaton remained about four years, closing in the spring of 
1837, when he removed to Ohio, whence, after many years of 
successful labor, he was finally called to his reward. 

We have said that the name originally assumed by this 
church was " The Second Baptist Church of Paris." At that 
time the town embraced, in addition to its present limits, 



.Sl-t HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

what are now tlie towns of Marshall and Kirkland. The 
First Baptist Church was located in what was set off as Mar- 
shall. Accordingly, in the year 1833, at the suggestion of Mr. 
William Gallup, who was then and for many years the clerk 
of the church, the word " Second" was omitted by general con- 
sent. Some 3' ears later, a post-office having been established 
under the name of " Cassville," the name was changed to 
" Cassville Baptist Church." 

Rev. William McCarthy was the successor of Mr. Eaton 
He is said to have been a good preacher and a very worth), 
man, though the number of additions to the church under hi.< 
ministry was not so great as under the labors of his prede- 
cessors. In 1840 he resigned, and a call was extended U 
Kev. Frederick Page. During the settlement of the latter 
special meetings were held, when thirty -four were received b} 
baptism and ten by letter, so that at the next annual meetint 
of the Oneida Baptist Association, with which this churcl 
was connected, the membership was reported at 173. Never 
theless, the settlement of Mr. Page proved an unhappy one 
He seems to have been the occasion of no little dissensior 
and grief among the members. In 184'3 he closed his labors 
leaving an unfavorable impression as to his moral worth. H( 
subsequently abandoned the Baptist denomination and unitec 
with the Universalists. 

Rev. Sylvester Davis was the next pastor, and remainec 
four years. He is said to have been sound in doctrine, clea 
in his expositions of Gospel truth, and otherwise a devou 
and faithful worker in his Master's service. He had in ai 
eminent degree the confidence and esteem of his brethren 
Yet it was his lot to sow and leave to others to reap. A 
there were numerous dismissals during his pastorate, and fev 
additions, there was a decline in the number of members t( 
130. Yet it was believed that the good seed of the kingdon 
scattered by his hand, was ultimately productive of preciou 
fruits. 

In the autumn of 184-7, Rev. Isaac Lawton became the pas 
tor, but remained only about eighteen months. During his tern 
of service, the house of worship was enlarged and extensivel; 
repaired. Mr. Lawton was deeply interested in this work, an( 
gave it his earnest and untirinof attention until it was com 



CASSVILLE. 315 

pleted. When finished and furnished, the edifice was re- 
dedicated with appropriate services. Elder Altred Bennett, a 
man well known and greatly beloved throughout the State, 
preached the dedicatory sermon. Religiously, the church at 
this time did not seem to prosper. Perhaps so much atten- 
tion was given to the work of repairs that personal piety was 
neglected. At all events, for sometime prayer meetings were 
entirely discontinued. At length, however, the brethren re- 
siding upon the upper road to Clayville, opened the school 
house for such meetings. The interest steadily increasing, 
the influence was widely felt, and it was manifest the Lord 
was among them. 

Such was the condition of things when, Mr. Lawton's health 
failino- he resigned, and Rev. Charles Graves was called to 
succeed him. The field was ripe for the harvest, and the new 
pastor, well adapted to the work before him, saw the ripening 
grain and thrust in his sickle to reap. He labored zealously, 
and the church with him, and their united efforts were at- 
tended with gratifying success. 

Ill the autumn of his first year, 1848, at the anniversary of 
the Association, twenty-eight were reported as added by bap- 
tism, and thirteen by letter from other churches. The next 
year, as the religious interest continued, forty-two baptisms 
were reported, and twelve added by letter. In the following 
year the report mentioned twenty-four by baptism ; and in 
year after that, (1852,) the fourth of Mr. Graves' pastorate, 
seventeen, swelling the number of members to two hundred 
and forty-four; the largest number the church ever con- 
tained at one time. During his six years service with the 
Cassville church, Mr. Graves administered the rite of baptism 
to one hundred and twenty persons. After his resignation, 
he continued his work with other churches until May, 1877, 
when he was called to his heavenl}' home. 

Rev. Wheeler I. Crane became the pastor in 1855, and 
served the church about four years. Ha was an instructive 
preacher, and a successful pastor. During his administration 
there were thirty-three additions to the church membership, 
though this gain was more than overbalanced by the loss 
sustained by dismissals, exclusions and deaths, reducing the 
number of members to two hundred and one. Of those Mr. 



316 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Crane baptized during this period, was his sou, now Rev. 
Cephas B. Crane, D. D., pastor of one of the most important 
churches in the city of Boston. Mr. Crane, the father, still 
•lives, (December, 1879,) and resides, with his wife, an estima- 
ble and intelligent lady, at Bergen, Genesee county, N. Y.. 
retired from the ministry on account of age and its accompa- 
nying infirmities. 

A worthy successor of Mr. Crane was Rev. E. D. Reed, who 
commenced his labors in February, 1859, and continued until 
April, 1866. His pastorate extended through all the years of 
the war of the rebellion, and therefore had to encounter the 
difficulties and discouragements incident to those exciting 
times. There were, however, occasional additions to the 
membership both by baptism and by letter. During his last 
year a series of meetings of great interest was held, in which 
he was associated with Rev. H. G. De Witt, an evangelist froin 
Canandaigua. The church was revived and enlarged b}^ the 
addition of over fifty converts. But we should not omit U. 
say that a serious loss was sustained in the death, about this 
time, of Charles Allen, a son and worthy successor in the samt 
ofiice, of the first Deacon Allen. His departure seemed s 
great calamity. 

The writer of the present sketch entered upon his dutief 
as pastor of the Cassville church just three months after Mr 
Reed closed his labors with it, and served nearly eight years 
Of his work he prefers that others shall speak. 

A notable event was the complete destruction by fire of th( 
house of worship, Dec. 1, 1867. But another and a better on* 
was erected in its place, and completed in about eighteei 
months. Two sermons of marked ability and power wen 
preached at the dedication, one by Rev. Dr. D. G. Corey, o 
Utica, and the other by Rev. J. M. Harris, then of Rome. I 
is unnecessary to bring this sketch down to a later date. 
the officers of the church, special mention should be made o 
Stephen Chapman, who for many years was one of its dea 
cons, and was efficient in every position assigned hiu). Johi 
Lohnas was for some time an associate deacon. Both havi 
passed away in death. The Sabbath school was organizec 
about the year 1827, with Daniel Budlongas its first superin 
tendent. An interesting and prominent feature was the BibL 



THE SAUQUOlt CRElEK. 317' 

class of William Gallup. It dates from 184<5, and was kept 
up for thirty years or more uuder his leadership. 

To Mr. Gallup the writer acknowledges his indebtedness 
for not a few of the facts contained in this brief history, not 
derived from the records themselves. He will only add in 
closing, that it is his prayer that, more abundantly in the 
future than in the past, the Cassville Baptist Church uiay be 
enriched with the blessings of Heaven, and prospered in its 
appropriate work. 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 

THE SAUQUOIT CREEK — RECAPITULATION OF ITS INDUSTRIES—- 
SKETCHES OF THE PIONEER MANUFACTURERS. 

Tassel Hill in the southern part of the town of Paris — the 
highest point of land in Ooeida county — rears its mighty 
head 2,100 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,675 feet 
above the Mohawk at Utica. From the base of this hill, at 
the south east, a stream takes its rise, flowing on down 
through the village of Bridgewater into the Unadilla, thence 
into the Susquehanna, and on to the Atlantic ocean at Chesa- 
peake Bay; from its base to the south west a stream flows 
down through the Sangerfield " long swamp " (ska-na-wis) 
thence down through Sherburne and the beautiful Chenango 
valley to Bingham ton, there uniting with the noble Susque- 
hanna, and is the Chenango river; to the west from its base 
another stream flows through Waterville and into the Oriska- 
ny to the Mohawk ; from its base at the north and north east 
three streams flow, uniting near the railroad crossing at the 
road leading from Cassville to Paris Hill, thence east to Cass- 
ville, there turning abruptly to the north and down the val- 
ley to the Mohawk at Whitesboro, and on to the sea at New 
York bay, and is the famous Sauquoit creek, one of the great 



318 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

water powers of the State, its entire length being 17 mile 
and falling in the distance 1,014 feet, being an average of 6 
feet to the mile. This stream, rising on the north of Tasst 
hill, is only a few rods distant from the head-water stream c 
the Oriskany creek, both flowing from the plateau, (the "sum 
mit" of the railroad near Paris station,) in opposite direction; 
From the three head springs to Cassville, a distance of thre 
miles, the Sauquoit creek falls 246 feet, an average of 82 feet t 
the mile ; from Cassville to Clay ville, a distance of two miles 
it falls 194 feet, an average of 97 feet to the mile ; fi-om Clay 
ville to Sauquoit, a distance of two miles, it falls 180 feet, ai 
average of 90 feet to the mile ; and from Sauquoit to the Mo 
hawk river, a distance of 10 miles, it falls a distance of 39< 
feet, an average of 39 feet to the mile, and all along its course 
spring brooks pour in from either hill side, swelling the vol 
ume of its flow. The Oneida Indians who fished up th' 
"creek" from where it debouched into the Mohawk, observec 
the peculiarity that its bed, — so unlike the Mohawk, — was £ 
mass of smooth round stones, pebbles and gravel, worn S( 
from the action of the water, and they called the creek Sagh 
da-que-da, signifying " smooth round pebbles." The Brother 
ton and Stockbridge Indians who fished the head waters 
of the Oriskany, and crossing the summit plateau near Tasse 
hill, fished down this creek to ihe "great Indian trail" (thai 
crossed it where now is the village of Sauquoit) by which 
they returned to their villages over Paris Hill, noticed the 
characteristic of its great fall — 620 feet in seven miles to that 
point, nearly 90 feet to the mile — and they called it Sauquoit 
signifying " short and rapid," which latter name was adopted 
after a few years by the pioneers and early settlers, in prefer- 
ence to Sagh-da-que-da, which name appeared in the first 
maps and deeds of their land. Three-fourths of a mile below 
the Cassville and Paris Hill road, "Dry brook" enters the 
creek. This brook, which is about two miles in length, rises 
near Paris Hill, flows south across the road near the Bishop 
farm, and crosses the next road near Charles Seymour's, and 
the next road near Ransom Lake's farm and into the creek a 
little above " Green's saw mill." In the summer this brook 
in places disappears, probably finding an underground outlet, 
but in the spring it is often a roaring torrent. In going down 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 319 

the creek the first water power uccupied is the "Green saw 
mill," on the road leading from " Tophet" across the creek to 
Daniel Green's. The saw mill above the road was built by 
Elam Tuttle at an early day, and afterwaids for about 50 
years owned by Seabury Scovil, of Paris Hill. The mill be- 
low the road was built by a Mr. Austin, and afterwards 
owned by Isaac Welton, Isaac Welton was born in Water- 
town, Conn., in the year 1801. He married Julia L. Allyn, 
January 1, 1821, (who was born in the same town in 1804-.; 
They came to Paris in the sprino of 1828, and settled in "To- 
phet." Later on he removed to the old brick tavern on the 
Cassville and Paris Hill road, kept at an early day by Isaac 
Saxton, which he altered over into a residence, and there he 
lived for about thirty years, an active business man and cap- 
italist, prominently identified with the interests of that part 
of the town. With advancing years he retired from active 
business, and in 1856 removed to New Hartford, where March 
12, 1877, at the ripe age of 76, he passed away. His wife sur- 
vives him, residing there with her daughter, Clarinda. Their 
-children were Helen E., wife of Mr. Milton H. Thomson, of 
Utica, Cornelia M. Stillwell, (who died August 25, 1879,) and 
Olarinda J. Havens. 

About the year 1832, after the Paris furnace went out 
of blast, Hiram and Nathan C. Green (two of four brothers 
who worked in the old furnace,) purchased a farm jointly 
in this neighborhood, which N. C. Green now owns and occu- 
pies. Sometime afterward, Hiram purchased the lower mill 
of Mr. Welton, and run it as a custom saw mill, but a few 
years later (1842) Mr. Hollister commenced building up Clay- 
ville, creating a great demand for lumber, when Hiram Greea 
leased the Seabury Scovil mill above, and run both saw mills 
to their full capacity for 21 years, dui'iug the time supplying 
most of the lumber of which Clay ville is built, and they came 
to be known as "Green's saw mills." May 22, 1836, a fearful 
cyclone swept over the vicinity, accompanied with rain and 
hail, unroofing buildings, demolishing window lights, and cre- 
ating great destruction. The forest below the saw mills in 
the ravine, for nearly half a mile along the creek was totally 
prostrated, — not a single tree left standing, — the trees being 
piled in an immense windrow in inextricable confusion, the 



320 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

locality being known for years thereafter as the " Windfall.' 
The cyclone from this point seemed to rise, and bounding 
across the country to the east, next struck the Dry lots hill 
there demolishing a barn for Captain Townsend, in whicl 
was a span of horses, but the timbers were fortunately pilec 
in such a manner that the horses were taken from the ruins 
uninjured. The " water-spout," which seemed to burst here 
deluged the hill and raised the Tannery brook (which runs 
down to the west through Sauquoit) to a mighty torrent 
Montgomery, a son of Deacon Hubbard, who with anothei 
little lad were at play on the bank ot the brook east of the 
wao-on shop, was' caught in the flood and swept down the 
swollen stream, under the shop, through the Tannery pond 
over the dam and under the Tannery building, and on dowt 
stream. The other lad (who escaped) gave the alarm, anc 
the neighbors hurried to the rescue. His clothing caught or 
a nail in the fence near the mill pond some 100 rods below 
where he was rescued by " Uocle" Jemmy Seatou, insensible 
and apparently dead, but by prompt treatment was resuscita- 
ted, not much iujured. A contusion over the eye left it? 
mark in future years in a thick, drooping eyelid, which gave 
him a " queer expression," not more so, perhaps, than his 
father, the worthy deacon, who (by a queer fieak of nature^ 
had one dark eye, while the other was light blue. 

Some years later, Hiram Green removed to and purchased 
with his sou, A. J. Green, the old pioneer Benjamin Merrill 
farm, north of Sauquoit, where he resided many years, but 
now lives in New Hartford, and his son, Andrew J., resides 
in Utica. James Green now owns the lower sawmill, and the 
Scovill sawmill, above, was demolished to make room for the 
railroad, which passes through the property. Nathan C. 
Green still resides on the old farm in that vicinity, a veteran 
Freemason of Sauquoit Lodge, and still an active member oi 
the Utica Commandery of Knights Templar. His surviving 
son, Eli C. Green, is a Past Master of Sauquoit Lodge, and a 
few years since an active young business man at Clayville, at 
which time (1867) he was elected Supervisor, Before the 
expiration of his term he resigned, to engage in business at 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he still resides, and Samuel B. Rhodes 
was elected Supervisor at a special meeting, to fill the vacancy. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 321 

On the north side of the creek, below the "Windfall," two 
sprinfi^ brooks pour in, on one of which Mr. Ray had a mill 
for sawing wood. In this vicinity resides Captain Asahel 
Dexter, a veteran of the war of 1812, hale and hearty, and 
the oldest man in towo, being in his O-ith year. In the open 
lot, before reaching Cassville, a considerable brook flows in 
from the south, and as the village is reached, the "south 
branch" pours in, on which was formerly a tannery and card- 
ing-mill, a sawmill, and a fork and hoe factory. Alonzo Bur- 
dick's carding-mill, sawmill and cider-mill, is the only ma- 
chinery in operation there at present, but atjthe mouth of the 
glen, before the beautiful little stream crosses under the em- 
bankment of the railroad, it supplies the water for the exten- 
sive trout-ponds of David Morris. 

The open lots above Cassville spread out into a large nat- 
ural basin, bounded by high bluffs which suddenly contract 
immediately above the village, approaching within a few rods 
of each other, through which the creek flows — the head of 
the "narrow gorge" which extends from this point down 
through Cla}' ville, where it broadens out below the Avery 
homestead, into the Sauquoit Valley. The primitive forests 
and swamps on the great water-shed above, that in former 
times held back the waters in their damp shades and springs, 
to finally percolate into the creek and supply its constant 
flow throughout the season, have been cut off, exposing the 
land to rapid evaporation, and the winter's snow, melted in 
the spring, and the great rain-falls, now quickly flow off in 
great fi-eshets, thus wasting the great volume of water, as a 
durable water-power throughout the season, and as a conse- 
quence, the great manufacturing establishments below, have 
been compelled to put in steam engines to take the i)lace of 
this wasted powei". For this purpose the Empire Woolen 
Company use annually tw(> thousand tons of coal; Chad- 
wick's and the "Capron " about six hundred tons each, and 
New York Mills about six thousand tons of coal, an aggregate 
each year of nine thousand tons, costing at an average, year 
by year, four dollars per ton, or a yearly expense of thirty-six 
thousand dollars. For less than this sum, a substant,ial dam 
at the head of the "gorge" above Cassville could be built from 
U 



322 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

bluff to bluff, and the great natural basin purchased for an 
immense reservoir to hold the wasted waters, to be gated 
down as required, from day to day, and thus restore the creek 
to its old-time water-power, thus doing away with the engines 
and their yearly outlay of thirty-six thousand dollars for coal: 
all of which could be accomplished at a cost less than the 
thirty-six thousand dollars now paid out each and every year. 
This plan was found necessary, and was many years ago 
adopted in the manufacturing districts of the New England 
States. 

At Cassville, first was erected a sawmill by Elias Hopkins; 
then on the same site, the present grist-mill, built by Amasa 
Burchard, in 1803; next below he built a carding and fulling 
mill, (afterwards a tub factory and now a cheese factory,) and 
below the road in the open lots, ai-e the ruins of the dam 
where he erected a sawmill. Near where the plank road 
crosses the creek, a spring brook pours in from the south, and 
a few rods further down, the famous large brook, taking its 
rise in the gravel bank of the railroad cut, adds its volume to 
the creek. From this point down to the next road-crossing, 
numerous large springs burst from the hillside and pour into 
the creek, and two brooks at the road-crossing below, pour 
in their waters from the east. Below this crossing is the saw- 
mill erected by Orange Barber, an old-time resident there and 
prominent man in town, who removed to Forestport many 
years ago, where he still resides. It is now carried on by E. 
Jones, who has also a cider mill connected therewith. Fur- 
ther down the stream is the machine shop erected by Edwin 
A. Palmer, inventor of the " patent whiftle-tree hooks " and 
other things, which he manufactured there. He was an in- 
genious mechanic and held many offices of trust in town, 
and is but recently deceased, his machine shop being con- 
verted into a cheese factory. We next come to the old pioneer 
grist-mill, erected by John Budlong in the 3'ear 1802, and 
now owned by J. M. Jennings, and on the west bank, opposite, 
at an early day stood a sawmill. Next below is James New- 
ton's cheese-box factory ; a brook from the west hill enters 
the creek here. Next below is the scythe works erected by 
S. A. Millard & Co., about 18-t7-48. A few rods below, a 
brook flows into the creek from the west, down through the 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 323 

-'crooked hill " glen. Near the mouth of the gloii, in old 
times, stood a sawmill ; and where the brook joins the creek, 
Cobb & Robinson, in 1814, erected a shovel factory, which 
was afterwards, in 1818, the scythe shop of Davis & Bowles, 
and later on run by Mr. Begch, and about 1840, rebuilt and 
enlarged, was the establishment known as David J. Millard's 
scythe works of world-wide fame, and whose agricultural im- 
plements were a household word in every village and hamlet 
in the United States. 

Next below is the site of the old Paris furnace — the pio- 
neer manufacturing enterprise of the valley — erected in 1801 
by Judge Sanger, Col. Avery and "Judge" Sweeting. On 
this site is the extensive hoe shop, erected by David J. Mill- 
ard. Next below is the site of Judge Sweeting's sawmill, 
afterwards carried on by 'Squire Albert Barnett, and sold to 
Bacon .& CoUis, and in 1842 to Frederick Hoilister, who erec- 
ted thereon the woolen factory, now the Upper Mills of the 
" Empire Woolen Conn)any." A bi-ook at this point tumbles 
in from the steep western hillside near the old " pot ashery." 
Next below is the celebrated Empire mill, first built by 
Frederick Hoilister in 1843-44, and since enlarged to its pres- 
ent ample dimensions by the "Empire Woolen Company," — A. 
J.Williams, President. On the east side of the highway, a few 
rods below, where the railroad crosses the creek with high 
embankment, was the site of the carding mill built by Col. 
Avery, in 1822, and carried on by ' Squire Albert Barnett. 
Next below is the site of the sawmill built by Col. Avery 
about 1810, burned down and rebuilt again, and some years 
since was converted into a flax mill by Henry A. Butler, 
(eldest son of Alanson A. Butler,) who was perhaps the most 
energetic young business man in the valley. He fell a victim 
of consumption and died a i'ew 3'ears since in the early years 
of manhood, and the flax mill was converted back to a saw- 
mill by the Empire Woolen Company, and has since been 
torn down, the dam only remaining to mark the spot. At 
this place the Dexter brook flows in from the west, to which, 
at the Dexter pond at the head of the glen, on the "old main 
road," the old Farmers' Factory machine shop building was 
removed and converted into a cheese factory, etc. A few rods 
below the Avery sawmill, where the creek passes the abrupt 



342 HISTORY (3F THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

bluff, can be seen the ruins of the dam of the original sa^ 
mill erected by Spofford — the pioneer sawmill there. Nes 
below, as the valley broadens out, is the dam built by Davi 
J. Millard, with a manufacturing street laid out with rows ( 
shade trees ; but no works have as yet been erected on th 
site. It is now owned by Hon. Eli Avery. A little below, 
spring brook flows from the western hillside down past Dee 
con Bragg's place and into the creek. Next below, on th 
creek, is the site of the pioneer grist mill, erected by Titu 
Gilbert in 1797, and carried on by himself and a Mr. Nortor 
a practical miller. Asa Shepard, the pioneer, succeeded to ii 
as well as the sawmill then also there, when he erected a dis 
tillery on the spring brook that there flows in from the west 
ern hillside. The mill was carried on afterwards by Nathan 
iel Barrett, and in 1837 was run by a Mr. Haywood, and i 
the summer of that year it caught fire and burne.d dowi 
Old Fulton Fire Company was promptly on hand, and to fi 
the little old engine, they drew it into the water of the pon( 
and sunk it deep enough for the water to flow into the fiUinj 
troughs at the .side, and the " boys" worked the brakes, stand 
ing waist deep in the pond. They played on the fire at th 
place where the valuable " burr stones" were located an( 
saved them uninjured, although the building was entireb 
consumed. When the fire broke out, Mr. Haywood managec 
to hoist the gates and flooding the water-wheel, thus keepinj 
it in motion, that, too, was saved. A new mill was erected an( 
put in operation in sixty days, which was run many years b"; 
William L. Mould, the veteran miller — father of ex-Super 
visor William F. Mould. At the building of the paper mill or 
the Farmers' Factory site, in 1853, the grist mill dam wai 
raised to a level of the old Farmers' Factoiy dam, thus mak 
ing a large reservoir for the paper mill, and the grist mill was 
discontinued and has since fallen into decay. Hobart Grave; 
succeeded to the distillery, which he carried on for man'5 
years, and also had a pot ashery there, which he carried on, as 
sisted by his son-in-law,William Royce. To the east from hen 
is where the city brook (the most important tributary of th( 
Sauquoit) flows into the creek, near the mouth of whicl 
stood Ephraim Davis' forge, and afterwards, a little below 
was erected a machine shop of the Farmers' Factory. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 325 

The various industries on the " city brook" are detailed 
in the Hohnan City chapter. A brook rising near the "dry 
lots," on the Daniel Willard farm, (now Daniel Walton's,) 
flows down through the Obed Waldron farm, (now S. Smith's,) 
where it is joined by a brook from the south, and together 
flow into the creek near the site of the old Davis forge. On 
this brook, at the " four corners," Davis erected a " thread 
factory" about 1815, and on the site of which Amos Wilcox 
and A. L. Kilborn erected a grist mill about the year 1844, 
which, after the death of Mr. Wilcox, — October 3, 1855, aged 
52 — was carried on by Kilborn & Waldron, and was destroyed 
by fire about 9 o'clock in the evening of November 12, 1866. 
" Lem" Kilborn, who learned his trade of James Bacon, and 
was a great favorite in the community, went West, where he 
still resides. The mill was rebuilt and carried on by Hammit 
Waldron, when at 2 o'clock A. M., Thursday, August 2, 1877, 
it was again destroyed by fire. At the erection of their grist 
mill, Messrs. Wilcox & Kilborn turned the waters of the "city 
brook" acioss the meadows and into the head of their dam 
thus adding the volume of its flow to the Willard brook. 

farmers' factory — THE PIONEER COTTON MILL OF THE 
SAUQUOIT VALLEY. 

Ephraim Davis was born January 21. 1769, and when he 
reached the age of 21 invested his frugal savings in 'Yankee 
notions" and " nick-nacks," filling two tin trunks, with which, 
suspended on a strap across his shoulders, he left the "land of 
steady habits," and on foof turned his face westward and ped- 
dled his way across the New England States and up through 
the settlements of the Mohawk valley, reaching the town of 
Paris and the valley of the Sauquoit in the fall of 1791. He 
■"settled in" at the four corners just south ot what is now 
Graham's upper paper mill, and erected a "forge," with trip 
hammer, &c., on the Holman City brook, near where Mr. 
Teachout now resides. Procuring the services of Enos Knight, 
the old blacksmith and father of the late William Knight, he 
manufactured the wrought-iron steel-laid plow-points, then 
used on the old wooden mould board plows, the wrought fire 
•slices for the old brick ovens, the cranes and hooks for the fire 



326 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

places, and all the various rude iron implements in demand in 
those primitive days. He carried on the business successfully 
for many years, and until the Paris Furnace Company super- 
seded, with their cast-iron plow points, the steel-laid wrought 
ones. 

In returning one day from the Paris furuace with a large 
potash-kettle, when near Theodore Gilbert's house, (now the 
cemetery,) his wagon capsized, and in some manner the im- 
mense kettle was thrown on to his legs, holding him firmly 
and crushing one of them so badly as to require amputation. 
Mr. Gilbert soon reached him, and getting assistance carried 
him home. He ever afterward went with a crutch. In 1812, 
he founded the Farmers' (cotton) Factory, so called because it 
was built by an association of farmers who united with him 
in the enterprise. Theodore and Allyn Gilbert built the dam 
and canal to bring the water of the Sauquoit from a point 
nearly opposite Col. Avery's, along the east bank to their 
reservoir, into which the Holman brook also poured its waters. 
Sheldon Marsh, with his apprentice, Hiram D. Gilbert, David 
Loring and Seth Burdick, constructed the immense water- 
wheel, and with machinery brought on from the East, this pio- 
neer cotton factory of the valley in due time went into oper- 
ation under the superintendence of Calvin Avery. Although 
the cotton-gin was invented in 1793, it had not been uni- 
versally introduced in the South, and much of the cotton they 
received was unginned and full of seeds, and was put out 
among the farmers in the neighborhood, who, placing it in 
large bins, belabored it with birch sprouts until it was di- 
vested of the seeds and really for the '" jiicker." Under the 
first management the factoiy did not prove a succsss, and fail- 
ing, the property went into the hands of Judge Eicon's father. 
General Kirkland, Judge Sanger and Col. Avery, who placed 
it under the superintendence ol John Avery, as agent. He 
was afterward succeeded by D. J. Millard, who acted as agent 
for many years. The propert}' passed through several hands 
and was finally, in 1849, run by William Harrison Royce and 
Hon. M. L. Hungerford, both now of Utica. When the cot- 
ton factory passed out of Davis' management, he erected a 
thread factory on the liitle bro ik on the site, afterward the 
Kilborn & Wilcox grist mill, which he carried on for many 



THE SAUQOrr CREEK. 327 

3^ears. After a long; aud active life, Ephraim Davis, the first 
irou forger and cotton manufacturer of the valley, wenttohii^ 
rest, April 30, 1834, aged Go. 

Thursday morning, Januar}^ '11 , 1831, at one o'clock, fire 
broke out in the harness shop attached to the stables of Jason 
Parker & Co., on Water street, in the village of Utica, which, 
with a dwelliiig house, carriage house, and granary 110x25 
feet, containing about 1,500 bushels of oats, together with sta- 
bling for ninety-six horses, hay, fcc, were entirely destroyed. 
The fire was supposed to have originated through some defect 
in the chimney of the harness shop. Loss estimated at about 
!i?4«,000, of which $2,500 was insured. The press stated that 
the fire department was very inefficient and comparativeh^ 
useless for lack of organization and practice, and pointed out 
the necessity of being better prepared in the future. The 
subject was urged from time to time, and an intei'est awak- 
ened, as an outgrowth of which a number of village boys 
assembled nearl}' fifty years ago, one evening in June, (1831) 
in the old wooden hotel, corner of John and Main streets, oppo- 
site Bagg's Hotel, to ibi m a fire company. Having no experience 
in the mannei' of organizing and pro|)erly conducting the meet- 
ing, 'Squii'e Ezra S. Cozier kindW consented to act as chair- 
man, and " show them how to do it." * At that meeting was 
born Fulton Fire Company, No. 3, composed of sturdy, ener- 
getic lads in their teens. With .some generous a.ssistance they 
procui-ed the little old hand engine, with troughs on each side 
to receive the water from buckets, being the manner in which 
it had to be filled, henceforth known as Fulton, No. 3, and 
went into vigorous practice. Their first "baptism of fire" 
was at the burning of John Batterfield's livery stable, on the 
site of Comstock Bros.' storehouse, in the rear of their store — 
on the canal. Having no hose, the little engine was placed in 
the alley clo.se Ho the burning stable, a bucket brigade line 
formed to the canal to pass the waier to fill her. Assistant 

* 'Squi-^e Cozier was the twenty-spcond victim of cbole'a. which broke 
our. August, 13, 1832, Puilo Rockwell brting the tir->t. On thi morning of 
the ISr.b ibe 'Squire app-iared (m tlie streets appirently a-< well ai usual, 
but remirked to friends "Ihat he knew he shoiiui have the d;sedse." His 
p lemomtioQ proved true. He wa^ a corpse before mght. 



828 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Foremaa Seth Slosson on top of the high pedestal of the 
engine, with pipe in hand attached to the " goose neck " to 
direct the stream, while the boys manned the brakes with a 
will, responding with vigor and rapidity to the cheery "Down, 
down, down with her, boys !" from Foreman Swift throngh 
his trumpet. They fought the fire like men, and only retreat- 
ed from their perilous position in the alley when driven out 
by the intense heat, and vt^hen they dragged out their "ma- 
chine," Slosson's clothes were on fire. In 1835 they sold the 
little old engine to the citizens of Sauquoit, and purchased a 
new and improved Waterford engine, of Piatt's manufacture. 
Of those brave boys who took hold and brought the fire 
department of Utica up to a standard that was the pride of 
her citizens, there survive to-day John Carton, Thomas M. 
Owens, Henry T. Miller, W. Harrison Scranton, Isaac Estes, 
John Dobie, John Stevens, R. U. Owens, Charles Reed, Ed- 
ward Reed, Charles Downer; Samuel Comstock, Samuel Bar- 
num, Chicago; Robert Chapman, Waterloo, Iowa; Stephen 
O. Barnum, Buff'alo, N. Y. ; Volney Sayles, Oswego, N. Y. 
Capt. William Knight, who was in the Legislature in 1835- 
36, procured the passage of an Act passed May 11, 1836, "to 
incorporate the Sauquoit Fulton Fire Company," which named 
as Trustees : Stephen Savage, David Loring, Abner Brownell, 
Henry Crane and William J. Eager. He was also instru- 
mental in procuring the Act passed May 14, 1836, to incor- 
porate the Oneida Bank, Utica, chartered for thirty years, he 
having been elected on the issue of bank or no bank, much 
opposition to chartered banks prevailing at that time. An 
engine house was built at Sauquoit, near the creek in the 
southwest corner of the Abner Bacon lot, adjoining Widow 
Corbett's, the old-time milliner, and a company organized with 
the then popular landlord of the old Savage stand, Ed. Fames, 
as foreman. The quaint little old engine performed good 
service at many a hard-fought fire, and after the burning of 
the Eagle factory, June 25, 18-t-t, it was decided to have her 
thoroughly overhauled and repaired. She was accordingly 
sent to Utica, pistons restored, new valves put in, painted up 
in good style, and she came out of the shop as good as new. 
At her trial trip — the company then with full ranks. Dean 
Brownell, assistant foreman, and Halsey Hakes, foreman — she 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 329 

was hauled up to East Saiiquoit, filled at the tavern pump (in 
front of where Mr. Stelle now resides,) and taken over in front 
of the new Methodist church. To the astonishment of the 
large crowd of assenibled villagers, under the practical vigor 
of the well-trained company, she sent a stream above the 
spire and over the weather-vane above, the height being con- 
siderably more than 100 feet perpendicular. One after an- 
other of the company removed, and they finally dwindled 
away and disbanded in 1848. Early in the evening of Sep- 
tember 2, 1850, the villagers of Sanquoit were startled with 
the cry of "fire!" and aUnost instantly the old church bell 
pealed forth the wild alarm of the fire-bell. It was soon 
known that the old Farmers' factory was in fiames. The 
writer, then a clerk in the store of the late James L. Davis, 
at that time a merchant there, was in the act of " lighting up." 
Of conrse the country store was instantly cleared of idlers 
and customers. " Larr}''" took passage for the conflagration 
with the late George Cobb, who was present with horse and 
bucrtry, shoutintr back an order to have his own horse and 
buggy hitched up and taken with all speed to the engine 
house, to draw old Fulton, No. 3, to the fire. Five minutes 
• later the engine was run out, attached to the buggy and drag- 
ged up the hill to West Sauquoit, where the plank road was 
reached, then new and as smooth as a house-floor, and the 
noble horse at full run soon placed the engine at the top of 
the hill leading down to the burning factory, where it was 
hastily detached and run down the hill by hand, and soon 
had a stream on the building. The Clayville engine, of im- 
proved pattern, with suction hose and a full organized com- 
pany, arrived about the same time, and got the first stream 
on the fire, but long before the close of the conflagration their 
beautiful " machiae" became disabled from sucking up mad 
and gravel from the bottom of the pond, and they towed her 
home; little Fulton, No. 3, manned by volunteers, fighting it 
out and saving the wing of the factory, with its valuable ma- 
chinery, while the main building was entirely destroyed, 
the fire caught in the attic, near the chimney at the north 
end, ran along through the attic, and burnt up through the 
bell-tower at the south end, and as a consequence the build- 
iino- was longer in being consumed than if it had caught in 



330 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

the lower story. The combustible nature of the wooden 
building, with floors satuiated with oil, cotton everywhere, in 
all states of manufacture, rendered it impossible to stay the 
flames, the savinjj; of the wing adjoining being a wondeiful 
achievement, under the circumstances. The night was pitch 
dark, and the lurid brilliancy of the flames, lighting up the 
Valley, hillside and sky, presented a scene of wonderful gran- 
deur and weird beauty, especially to the south, in the lights 
and shadows of the deep gorges of Clayville and Holman City, 
hemmed in with their towering pinnacles, brought out in bold 
relief, with the inky black sky in the background. With the 
machinery and building saved, the loss of Messrs. Hungerford 
& Royce was still about $8,000. This was the last great fire 
in which the quaint old Fulton, No. 3, played an important 
part. The engine house is torn dowu, and the veteran ma- 
chine that has saved so many thousand dollars of propeity, 
and aiound which cluster fond recollectinns of her old-time 
firemen, ignobly reposes in a shed near the silk mill, at 
Sauquoit. 

A spirited correspondence between "Truth" of Clayville, 
and "Equality" of Sauquoit, was j)ulilished in the Utica 
jjapers in regard to the merits of the two engines, size of noz- 
zles, &c., at the fire, and the following Saturday the Clayville 
Company, having in the meantime repaired their engine, went 
down to Sauquoit to settle the matter, by demonstrating what 
they ccnild do. The account of their exploit is preserved to 
us in the following extract from a correspondent in the Utica 
Herakl, then edited by Hon. R. U. Shei'uian : 

Sauquoit, Sept. 10, 1850. 

Friend Sherman : Again we crave youi- indulgence, to 
stale through your columns a few facts in relation to the fire 
at the Farmers' factory. * * * * go much for the fire. 
Well, on Saturday last our usually quiet village was all agog 
with the announcement that the Clayville fire conqmny 
were going to ))ay us a visit, and scarcely had the intelligence 
reached us, when they were descried on the march with their 
redoubtable machine in train ; and what with the company, 
engine and crowd following, one could hardly reconcile him- 
self to the belief that he was in staid old Sauquoit. They 
])roceeded to the factory of Messrs. A. Brownell «fc Co., and 
began playing u])on it with their whole strength, (numbering 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 331 

forty in the company, I believe,) and played a .shoit time, 
when their machine g i-n-o-u-t again, when they started for 
home, but not in time to escape the chagrin of seeing "the 
noble little engine from Sauqiioit," manned l»y about a dozen 
boys, throw a stream equal, if not superior, in height to that 
of the Clayville monster. Three hearty cheers were given 
them by the little fellows with a will, " for better luck next 
time." As a f inch nozzle is to an l^x| inch nozzle, so is Sau- 
quoit to Clayville. That's all we ask. Is " Truth" satisfied I 
Nous verrons. " Equality." 



In the spring of 1853, Naaman W. Moore. Frederick S. Sav- 
age, Morris S. Savage, Hiram Gray and Ira H. Gillett pur- 
chased the site of the old Farmers' Factory, and commenced 
the erection of the present substantial stone pajier mill there. 
It was completed and put in operation the following winter, 
and run by them until 1861, when tor a time it was idle. It 
was finally sold to E. B. Graham & Co., of Utica, the present 
owners, who carried it on several years, to finally "shut 
down," and it is now again standing idle. 

John Holmes was an early settler here and married Letty 
McMaster, of the town of Sherburne. Their children were 
Sylvanus, Lewis, Edward, Hudson, Juliette, wife of Willard 
Luce, Persis, wife of R. T. Bu.ss, of Bi-idgeport, Conn. ; and 
Ann, wife of David Washburn, of Muscatine, Iowa. Persis 
and Ann alone survive. John Holmes removed to Cleveland, 
Ohio, many j'ears ago to engage in the shipping business, and 
afterwards removed to Muscatine, where he and his wife both 
died a few years since. Sylvanus Holmes was an energetic 
3^oung business man, of afJable mannei-s and was clerk in a 
store in Utica previous to 1825. He married Elizabeth Hoyt, 
of Utica, daughter of John C. Hoyt, (sister of Mis. E. M. Gilbert,) 
and for many years was a prominent merchant in Utica, (his 
brother-in-law, Willard Luce, of Sauquoit, was his partner.) 
He was Aldermanin 1835, and afterward removed to New York 
city, engaging in the wholesale hardware trade, and late»' on was 
a " commercial traveler" for many years, until failing health 
compelled him to seek repose. His wife having deceased, he 
came to his old boyhood home (Sauquoit,) where after a few 
months he passed away, at the residence of his sister, Mrs. 
Willard Luce. His children, Charles A., Lewis, Rev. Theo- 



332 HISTORY OF the town of PARIS. 

odore, Frank, John, Sarah, and Julia, wife of Rev. George M. 
Boynton, all reside in New York city. 

Next below the Farmers' factory, was the oil luill of Ark 
Jenks, erected by hira on the east bank, in the year 1803. 
In 1808, Major William Gere was associated with him and 
they carried on an extensive business in the manufacture of 
linseed oil, made from crushing flax-.seed with large circular 
stones (similar to mill stones) which were propelled around 
in a ciicular troug^h, cart-wheel fashion, crushincr the flax-seed 
placed in the trough, from which the oil was expressed by a 
press, the " oil cake " being disposed of to the farmers for 
" feed " for their stock. At that early day the pioneers raised 
flax in large quantities, which after being "rotted" was bro- 
ken by hand in the "flax brake," and the "sheaves" separated 
from the fibre by the "hetehell" and "swingle," and the 
women folks spun, and then wove it by the hand looms into 
fabrics for summer wear, and for sheets and pillow-cases. A 
few years later, they were relieved from this laborious process 
by the establishment of cotton factories, whose production 
took the place of the tow and linen fabrics, and they aban- 
doned the raising of flax, and there was no more flax-seed to 
supply the oil mill, which then ceased operations. The old 
oil mill stood for many years, and was later on used by D. J. 
Millard, then agent for the Farmers' Factory, as a carriage 
house. About the year 184)0 it was burned down, Mr. Mill- 
ard's carriage being destroyed in the flames. All that remains 
to mark the spot is the ruins of the old dam, and two of the 
great " crushing stones " that lie on the ground at the site of 
the old mill. Ark Jenks was much esteemed in the commu- 
nity, and with his wife Persis, and three daughters, Sally, 
Aminda, and Syntha Jenks, were among the original mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church, in the " south class." A cousin, 
Job Jenks, lived on the lane leading down from the main 
road to the creek south of the residence of N. W. Moore, and 
his sou Chester learned the trade of cardin:,' and cloth dress- 
ing in the old mill at the " foot of the lane " (afterwards the 
old paper mill.) Chester Jenks now lives at Deansville, the 
father of Ira C. Jenks, the well-known hop buyer there. 

Genealogy of the Jenks Family. — I. Jenks, the founder 

of the family in this country, came from England previous to 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 333 

1735, and settled in Rhode Island, and was a miller by trade. 
He had two sons ; John, who was the father of Ark Jenks, 
and William, the father of Job Jenks; William and his son 
Job, were both also millers. 

II. William Jenks was born in Rhode Island, July 26, (0. S.) 

17^5, and married Huldah . Their children : Obadiah, 

Maribe, Waitestill, Job, William Jr., Elizabeth and Nathan. 

III. Job; born at Salisbury, Mass., June 1-i, (O. S.) 1764- 
married Ruhamer . Their children: John, Huldah, Nan- 
cy, Dorothy, Olive, Ira, Chester (survives,) Louisa (survives,) 
and Erastus. 

IV. Chester : born at Paris Hill, N. Y., May 14, 1802 ; mar- 
ried Emily Cowing. Their children : Ira C, Edwin, Lucy, 
Adelaide, Martin, and Mary (deceased.) 

Among the early settlers of the town of Paris, were Ark 
and Job Jenks. The Jenks family in this country sprung 
from a common ancestor who came from England early in the 
18th century and settled in Rhode Island. The earliest rec- 
ord we have is that of William Jenks, who was born in the 
State of Rhode Island, July 26th. old style A. D. 1735, and 
had an older brother John Jenks, who was the father of 
Ark, above referred to. In the j'ear 1757, William Jenks 
was married, and five yeais after removed from the State of 
Rhode Island to Salisbury, in the State of Massachusetts. 
Job Jenks, son of Wdliam, was born at Salisbury, Mass., June 
14, old style 1764, and resided there until about the year 1790, 
when he removed to what was afterward known as Morris' 
flats, then a wilderness. 

One Thomas Morris had purchased a large tract of land 
where the present village of Morrisville now stands, and he 
at once set about getting settlers to come fi-om New England 
into what was then the far West, and clear up and make 
homes upon his land. Job, with his wife and two children 
came up the Mohawk valley to Fort Schuyler, (now Rome,) 
from thence he went along an Indian trail to Morris' flats. 
After reaching Morris' flats, he put up a log house and cleared 
a small plot of ground and fitted it to plant with corn. But 
here came another trouble. There was no seed corn to 
be had nearer than Fort Schuyler. Consequently he went on 
horseback to Fort Schuyler and brought home a bundle of 



•334 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

seed coi-D, occupyino- two days in making the trip. After the 
land was partially cleared, people began to fear that the low 
lands in the valleys might be unhealthy, and Job, sharing the 
alarm, in March, 1797, removed to the Burritt house on Paris 
Hill In May, 1802, he moved into the Cole house, and on 
the l^th day of the same month Chester Jenks was born. 
Job lived in the town and much of the time in the village of 
Sauquoit, until April 25th, 1821, when he removed to Brother- 
town, where he died. Chester Jenks was an apprentice, and 
worked a while in the old fulling mill in Sauquoit, but 
abandoned it, when he went to Brothertown and became a 
farmer. He is still living near where he settled in 1821. 
The name was spelled Jencks until about 1820. The c is 
still retained by the members of the family in Rhode 
Island. 

Below the oil mill, at the " foot of the lane," leading from 
the main road, on the west branch of the creek, Isaac Spofford 
built a grist mill in 1803, which some years later John Curtiss 
altered over into a carding and fulling mill, and still later con- 
verted into a woolen factory. A small brook comes in here from 
the west. A mortaage given to Benjamin Merrill — the pioneer 
— remained unpaid, and the title of the property finally was 
vested in Mr. Men-ill. Naaman W. Moore, (son of Almeron 
Moore, who married a daughter of Benjamin Merrill,) was a 
favorite grandson of the old pioneer, and after N. W. Moore 
had learned the trade of paper making, of Samuel Lyon, of 
New Hartford, he gave the old paper mill property to him to 
start him in business. Stephen Savage, the old merchant at 
West Sauquoit, became a partner, putting in money for 
" working capital," and the firm of Savage & Moore com- 
menced operations by altering over the old mill at "the foot 
of the lane" into a paper mill, in the year 1826, and as soon 
as completed they began the manufacture of paper by the 
"hand made" process; air drying the paper, hung on sticks 
in the upper story ot the building, which they continued for 
some years. Further down the creek a spiing brook pours 
in, which takes its rise on the western hillside, and crosses 
the main road a little north of N. W. Moore's old residence. 
On this brook, near the west bank of the creek, John Curtiss 
had a clover mill. In 1835, Savage & Moore pui chased the 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 335 

property arid commenced the erection of the stone paper mill 
(near Sauquoit,) bringino; the water of the creek fioin the race 
of the old wooden mill above, in a canal which they built for 
the purpose along the west bank ; the stone paper mill being 
built for making "machine made paper;" the paper being 
dried and finished by being passe.J through heated rollers. 
The old clover mill was converted into a storehouse — now 
standing near the lailroad, a i'ew rods south of the paj)er mill 
— and the s|)ring brook utilized for " wash water" in prepar- 
ing the rags for " jiulp." After the death of Stephen Savage, 
his son, Frederick S. Savage succeeded to the firm, which still 
retained the name of Savage & Moore, Mr. Moore still retain- 
ing the active management of the business, which arew to 
great magnitude, their teams for the collection of i-ags reo-u- 
larly visiting distant parts of the State, over established 
routes, traversed for many years. The old "hand paper mill" 
above, was abandoned and fell to decay, the foundation walls 
of the old " wheel-pit " and traces of the old dam alone mark- 
ing the spot. After the burning of the Farniers' Factory, 
they, — in 1853 — (in conjunction with others) erected the 
large stone paper mill there, running both mills for many 
years under the old firm name. The entire paper mill prop- 
erty was later on sold to E. B. Graham & Co., of Utica, who 
carried on both mills for a number of years ; during the time, 
building an addition on the w^est end of the lower mill, and 
putting in new machinery. A few years since they "shut 
down" both mills, which have ever since stood idle. N. W. 
Moore was an excellent business man and gi'eatly respected 
in town ; for many years he was also prominenth' connected 
with the Oneida Bank, of Utica, as a director and vice presi- 
dent. He was an active Freemason, made in old Amicable 
Lodge of New Hartford, and was installed the first Master 
of Sauquoit Lodge, No. loO, at its organization in IS+O. He 
was identified with the itnprovements and growth of the vil- 
lage, and active in procuring the building of the railroad 
through the Valley, being one of the first board of directors. 
He was elected Supervisor in ISSO-^O— 1-1-42 and '43. A 
very successful business man, and greatly respected, he 
went to his rest March IG, 1874, aged 73. His estimable 
wife (they had no children) died a few years previously. 



33G HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Frederick S. Savage, his old time partner, (and eldest son oi 
Stephen Savage,) wsls. identified during his whole lifetime 
with the growth and prosperity of Sauquoit. At an early 
day he was the popular landlord of the old " Savage 
Stand," merchant for some years and postmaster in 1832, and 
years later treasurer of Odd Fellows Lodge and of Union 
Hall Association from its organization, and treasurer of the 
Academ}^ for a quarter of a century, and also holding many 
other offices of trust and responsibility in town and society 
which he filled with ability and faithfulness. He was elected 
supervisor during the war of the Rebellion — 1863-64 — dis- 
charging the onerous and responsible duties at that critical 
period, (growing out of the procuring of and payment oi 
" bounties" to the soldiers to fill the quota of the town undei 
the draft,) with skill and to the satisfaction of all. His gen- 
ial manners and eminent social qualities won the friendship ol 
all, and he died a few years since, lamented by the whole 
community. His wife, Louisa, youngest daughter of Colitnel 
Gardner Avery, survived him but a year or two. Their chil- 
dren : Louisa, (wife of George Mould,) Stephen G., and Willis 
survive. 

Next below, on the creek, is the site where Captair 
Abner Bacon built his fourth sawmill, early in the century— 
1807. October 26, 1813, the sawmill and site was sold tc 
" The Friendly Woolen and Cotton Manufacturing Company ;' 
Joseph Frost, President; Abram Bradbury, Treasurer and Sec- 
retary. Directors: Joseph Frost, Abram Bradbury, Stepher 
Smith, New York ciiy ; Thomas Dean, Deansville ; Colone 
Gardner Avery, John Butler, Captain Abner Bacon, of Paris 
who invested $4,000 each in the enterprise. 

Messrs. Smith, Frost and Bradbury, of New York, were Qua- 
kers, and as the corporate name of the company was rathei 
lengthy, the old settlers, " for short," called it the "Quakei 
Factory," by which it was afterwards known. The sawmil. 
was moved off from the site and a few rods to the south, anc 
made into a wool-house; (it has since been moved severa 
times and used for various purposes, and is now the saloot 
east side of the railroad, opposite the Sauquoit depot.) The 
company then erected a substantial stone factory on the site 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 337 

85x50 feet, aud at the extreme south end of the roof, a bell- 
tower, in which swung the bell, about the size of the ordinary 
locomotive bells, but such was the remarkable purity and 
beauty of its tone, that it could be heard on the distant hills 
full as distinctly as the large church bell which afterwards, 
1816, pealed forth from the newly erected bell-tower added to 
the M. E. church. Machinery was |)ut in the factory, a ma- 
chine shop for repairs erected near the mill, and they com- 
menced operations. The looms in their "weave-shop" (the 
lower room) were hand-looms, it being before the day of 
power-looms, and the surplus yarn bej^ond the capacity to 
weave there, was put out in the neighborhood to be woven 
by the hand-looms then to be found in every farm-house. 
Amasa and Charles Millard, (father of David J. and S. A. 
Millard,) had a trip-hammer in the machine shop, where they 
made scythes. In 1816, Oliver G. Rogers and Allen Sweet 
carried on the machine shop. The "Quaker Company" was 
short-lived aud soon failed, and the property was sold ou exe- 
cutions at sheriff's sale, and purchased by James Dean for 
himselt, John Butler, Colonel Avery and Captain Bacon, who 
leased it to Soddy, Foster & Co., — Captain Soddy and James 
Sears Foster, (the father of the late Dr. Gilbeit A. Foster, of 
Utica.) — late in the year 1814. It was afterward run for 
a number of years by Isaac Smith. At the expiration of the 
Soddy, Foster & Co. lease, Captain Soddy removed, and also 
Abram Grimshaw, who constituted the "Co." Mr. Grirashaw, 
who was a noted satinet manufacturer, removed to Trenton. 
James Sears Foster was born in Ridgefield, Co^n., Aug. 17, 
1774, and married Betsey Miles, who was born in Walling- 
ford, Conn., March 3, 1774. They removed to Catskill, N. Y., 
in 1797, and afterwards (1802) to Litchfield, N. Y., where he 
kept store between "Jericho" and "Jerusalem," aud from there 
to the Sauquoit Valley in 1812, and two years later engaged 
in making satinets, etc., at the old Quaker factory, and later 
on, removed to New Hartford and was connected with the 
"dumb factory," and afterwards at Utica, where he engaged 
in the lumber business, under the firm of Foster, Walker & 
Culver, (John Culver.) After an active business life he went 
to his rest, honored and respected by all, Nov. 1, 1858, at the 

V 



338 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

advanced age of 84. The aged companion of his youth pre- 
ceded him two years, dying July 12, 1856, aged 82. Their 
children were eleven: Saliua, Olive, Desire, Gilbert A., Eliza, 
James S., Catharine L., Sanford M., Willis N., Harriet, Chop- 
lin B. ; of whom five survive : Olive, Eliza, James S., Sanford 
M., and Harriet. Dr. Gilbert A. Foster was born in Litch- 
field, Herkimer county, June 3, 1803. He early evinced a 
taste for mechanics, and after finishing his studies in the prim- 
itive schools then established, he apprenticed himself at the 
pioneer machine shop of Oliver G. Riggers at Wiliowvale, 
where he acquii-ed great skill as a machinist. He subse- 
quently went to Auburn, to superintend the building of the 
machiner}'- for the State prison, and was engaged there for 
several years. May 3, 1827, he was married to Orpha E. 
Bogue, daughter of Rev. Publius V. Bogue, the pioneer pastor 
of the Presbyterian church at Sauquoit, and about this time 
took up his residence on the "Foster farm" at New Hartford. 
Here he took up the profession of dentistry — from the "hub;" 
inventing, and with his own hands making the vaiious deli- 
cate and curious tools of the art, by converting an old-fash- 
ioned spinning-weeel into a lathe, his brother Sanford turning 
the wheel, .'hile he with masterly skill, with "hand tools" 
turned the delicate implements which his ingenuity devised, 
and which he afterwards tempered and polished. 

In the year 1832 he removed to Utica and entered upon 
the practice of dentistry, of which he may well be called the 
founder. He was one of the original members of the Ameri- 
can Society of Dental Surgeons, oi-ganized at Baltimore in 
1842. He was the first president of the Fifth District Dental 
Society, and was one of the American Commissioners to adju- 
dicate upon dentistry at the World's Fair in New York, in 
1853. At the age of twenty- one, he was made a Mason in 
old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, (1824,) and soon after elec&ed its 
secretary, and was also an oflicer and member of Horeb Chap- 
ter — two of the oldest Masonic bodies in the county, both 
destroyed by fire about the year 1830, the Bible and a few 
implements alone being saved. These he carefully preserved 
for more than forty years, and after the organization of the 
new Amicable Lodge at Washington Mills, presented them to 
the lodge in a speech of deepest emotion. On that interesting 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 339 

occasion there were present two other members of "old" Ami- 
cable — Ezra Stiles and Solomon Rogers. Mr. Stiles soon after 
removed to the west, where, a year or two since, he passed 
away, and the veteran Mason, Solomon Rogers, is now the 
sole survivor of the old pioneer Amicable Lodge, founded by 
Judge Sanger in 1792. 

Dr. Foster was the last surviving officer of old Amicable 
Lodge. He was a genial Christian gentleman, kind and char- 
itable, and ever and alwa3^s made his home the happiest place 
of all. From early boyhood he had a keen enjoyment of all 
out-door sports. A visit to the North Woods, a day's fishing, 
an excursion to the forests or fields, filled him with a boy's 
enthusiasm. Of his death, which took place Dec. 1, 1877, the 
''Observer" says: "The hand of death never stilled the beatino- 
of a kindlier heart. He had passed five years bej'-ond man's 
allotted span. But the evening of his da^'s was as the morn- 
ing — light and warm and full of sunshine." 

The following tribute to his memory, from the graceful pen 
of his life long friend, Hon. R. U. Sherman, from the " Ob- 
server" of December 12, 1877, will be read with interest : 

" Seldom, within a similar space of time, in the local history 
of Utica, has the heavy hand of death fallen on so many 
shining victims as within the year last past. The landmarks 
b}' which the old remained connected with the new, have one 
by one passed away, and soon ail those who were at the lay- 
ing of the foundations will be known only in memory. The 
turf has not yet taken root over the gi-aves of Dauby and 
Sayre and Hurlburt and Hubbell and others, the honored 
dead of a generation rapidly passing away, when we are 
called upon to open a new grave to receive the remains 
of one, perhaps the best loved of all — Gilbert A. Foster. 
Scarcely any of our older citizens were better known 
than he; certainly none were held in higher esteem, none 
regarded with more lively afl^ection. Singularly gentle in 
•character, ardent in his affections and pure in heart as a 
little child, none could share his society without feeling 
its wholesome influence. The history in detail of his life 
need not be stated here, where it is so well known. His 
success in the field of action chosen by him, his excellence 
as a citizen, his fidelity as a friend, his endearing character 
as the head of a numerous and happy family, all this is 
as well known as if it had been long inscribed on im- 
perishable tablets. For nearly three-quarters of a century he 



/.,^ 



340 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

fulfilled all the duties of useful citizenship, and at every stage 
of his life he exhibited the same beautiful exemplification of a 
well-rounded Christian character. Daily, until stricken with 
the fatal malady that ended his useful career, he has been 
seen among us, and his benignant look, his ever cheery voice,, 
and his kindly greeting have been a constant benediction to- 
all. Loving nature as only a doting child can love a fond 
mother, he was always true to its lessons of beauty and good, 
and to the last enjoyed a life that, despite its share of trial and 
affliction, had yet a controlling measure of happiness and joy. 
He had a heart to feel and a tear to shed for the sorrows of 
others, and the sincerity of his sympathy was manifested by 
his dail}^ acts of beneficence. To the city in which his long 
life had been so honorably spent, his death is a public loss, 
and to his many friends a personal bereavement. In his home 
circle, of which he was the light and joy, his death has left a 
void that cannot be filled ; a wound of heart that time may 
assuage but can never heal." 

The estimation in which he was held by the Brothers of 
the M3'stic Tie, is, perhaps, best set forth in the resolutions of 
Oneida Roj'al Arch Chapter, as follows : 

To the M. E. H. P., Officers and Co7npanions of Oneida Chap- 
ter, No. 57. 

The undersigned, your committee selected to put in perma- 
nent form some sentiments and reflections called forth by the 
death of our late Companion, Gilbert A. Foster, would respect- 
fully report : 

When we read in the daily papers " Entered into rest Dec. 
7th, 1877, Dr. Gilbert A. Foster, in the seventy-fifth year of 
his age," we were not taken by surprise, but in common with 
this entire community we felt the pall of sorrow and sadness 
in its thickest folds resting upon us. A good man had left 
us, had again been exalted. 

Age slowly, steadily, but very plainly had been laying upon 
our companion those burdens and infirmities so useful in 
teaching us that we are mortal; sometimes so necessary in 
weaning us from a world of pain and sorrow, but these 
burdens and infirmities left no shadows upon his kind, genial 
nature. His departure was a beautiful sun setting. 

Dr. Foster was born in Herkimer county, June 3d, 1803, 
of most respectable New England parentage. After improv- 
ing the advantages which this section then afforded, by ac- 
quiring a fair education, he adopted the profession of a ma- 
chinist — for there can be no reason why that should not be 
designated a profession which has by its skill and genius set 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 341 

in motion so much that is wonderful, beautiful and useful. 
By a change in direction he came to exhibit his talents as a 
dentist. 

Our deceased companion was best known by the qualities 
of his heart, by his affection, his overflowing benevolence, 
his cultivated tastes, his love for the antique, the unique, the 
beautiful. In the presence of a fine painting, a gem of art, a 
relic of the olden times, he was an enthusiast, he would mingle 
smiles and tears while drinking in an apparent inspiration 
from some such object of interest. At such moments he 
wished every one present to feel the same interest, to be 
equally happy. Some of us may remember his delights in 
exhibiting to our citizens the first daguerreotype ever seen in 
this section. He was a lover of nature. In the fields, the 
old forests, by the babbling brooks, in following the rivulets 
through their gorgesj he seemed to be communing with the 
God of Nature. 

The qualities of his heart tempered and beautified by the 
graces of religion made him as he appeared to the public, the 
highest type of man, the Christian gentleman. Gentle, kind, 
affectionate, charitable without ostentation, pious without 
cant, intelligent without conceit, firm in his beliefs without 
dogmatism. All these qualities of heart and intellect made 
him a good Mason. At twenty-one he became a Mason in 
Amicable Lodge, of New Hartford. Soon after he was exalted 
in Horeb Chapter, No. 7, of New Hartford, a Chapter then 
older than the Grand Chapter of R. A. Masons of this State, 
and consequently at his decease Companion Foster had been 
a Royal Arch Mason over fifty years. 

If these expressions as to our deceased companion shall 
meet your views, we request that they be entered upon the 
records of the Chapter, and that an engrossed copy, subscribed 
by the M. E. H. P. and S., under the seal of the Chapter, be 
delivered to the family of the deceased. 

Utica, January 5th, 1878. 

[L. S.] 

E. S. Barnum, ^ 
M. A. LEWIS, H. P., Alfred Walker, VCommitttee. 

Daniel Perry, Sec. M. M. Jones, ) 

His wife, Orpha E. Bogue, was born May 12, 1807, and sur- 
vived him barely two years, and entered into rest October 31, 
1879. Their children were Dr. Charles B., Gilbert D wight, 
Sophia B., Catharine E., all of whom survive except Gilbert 
D wight. 

Genealogy of the Bogue family— I John Bogue, born in 
Glasgow, Scotland, and came to East Haddam, Conn. 



3-i2 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

II. Richard, born March 31, 1678. 

III. Rev. Ebenezer, born May 9, 1716 ; graduated at Yale- 
College September 14, 1748. December 19, 1750, he married 
Damaris Cook, daughter of Captain Samuel Cook, of Walling- 
ford, Conn., by whom they had seven children ; five sons and 
two daughters. He was ordained in the ministry November 
27, 1751. He also taught young men in Latin and Greek, 
and prepared them for college. 

IV. Publius Virgilius Bogue was born at Farmingtou, 
Conn., March 30, 1764 ; graduated at Yale College in 1787 ; 
studied theology with his brother, Rev. Aaron Jordan Bogue, 
of Granville, Mass. ; called to preach at Winchester, Conn., 
November 30, 1790 ; ordained January 26, 1791 ; married 
Catharine Robinson, daughter of Col. Timothy Robinson, of 
Granville, Mass., a distinguished and gallant officer of the 
Revolutionary army. After preaching a few years at Win- 
chester, Conn., Rev. P. V. Bogue removed to Hanover Gre en — 
then in the town of Paris — where he remained a short time 
and then removed to Vernon Centre. Here his health gave 
way and he removed to Vermont for change of climate, where 
he remained twelve or fourteen years, when his health being 
restored he was again attracted to Central New York, and set- 
tled at Sauquoit towards the close of the year, 1814, and com- 
menced his labor as pastor of the Presbyterian Church there,, 
and on March 15, 1815, he was installed by an Ecclesiastical 
Couucil as the Jirst pastor of that church. Here he labored 
faithfully in the vineyard for many years and until 1825, 
during his pastorate adding one hundred and twenty-eight 
persons to the primitive congregation. From there he re- 
moved to Clinton, where he passed away in the fullness of 
years, August 26, 1836, aged 72. His wife, Catharine, pre- 
ceded him a few months, having died March 30, 1836. Their 
children were Decius R., Huldah M., Timothy L., Rev. Horace 
P., Sophia E., Catharine R., Virgil A., Laura G., Orpha E., 
(wife of Dr. Gilbert A. Foster,) Emily C, and Adaline C. 

May 7, 1825, the " Quaker Factory" property was sold by 
Judge Dean to Kellogg Hurlburt and Abner Brownell, (Hurl- 
burt & Brownell,) who convei'ted it into a cotton factory, and 
changed the name to " Franklin Factory." This firm added 
on fifty feet to the south of the factory, doubling the length 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 343 

(the bell tower remaining and was in the middle of the build- 
ing as enlarged,) making 35x100 feet in size. In 1827, Mr. 
Brownell purchased the interest of Mr. Hnrlbnrt, and later on, 
admitted his eldest son, George M. Brownell, to the firm, 
under the style of "A. Brownell & Co." George M. assumed 
the financial management of the business, and under his able 
administration the business prospered, and the Franklin fac- 
tory took rank with the great manufactories of the valley. Tn 
1846, a second addition was erected to the south end, of sixty- 
five feet, making the size of the factory 35x165 feet; a wheel 
pit was constructed on the south end, in which, some years 
later, a turbine water-wheel was placed, doing the work of 
the old overshot water-wheel. The following year — 1847 — 
they erected a " sixty-loom" stone factoiy, with the necessary 
tenement houses, etc., to the north "down the lane," — now the 
silk mill. As an evidence of their success, they were able to 
run their factories for a period of two years without selling 
their ])ro(luction, storing their manufactured goods, awaiting 
a rise in the ])rice of them — which came — they refusing dur- 
ing that period to sell at the low price the goods then ranged 
in market. In those days very little money was u.sed or cir- 
culated in the valley, most all of the business being transacted 
by " barter" and exchange of products. 

With all the great manufacturing interests on that busy 
stream, no bank was ever established in the valley, and the 
three factoiies then in operation : the Fanners', the Franklin, 
and the Eagle Factory, did not in all those years ])ay out 
there, for labor or any other purpose to the surrounding com- 
munity, a single dollar of money. In lieu of money they 
each issued " shin- plasters" — as the old settlers called them — 
printed due bills (except the date and signature,) of the de- 
nominations of 3 cents, 6^ cents, 12^ cents, 25 cents, 50 cents 
and one dollar. The small coins in general circulation were 
the Spanish and Mexican : sixpence, value 6^ cents; shilling, 
value 12 J cents; two shilling piece, 25 cents; and four shill- 
ing piece, 50 cents. The merchants marked their goods in 
shillings and pence, and in that manner kept their books. A 
farmer, in giving the price of his products, would say "four 
shillings," instead of fifty cents or half a dollar,— the equiva- 
lent value in United States coin — and "six shillings" instead 



344 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 



of seventy-five cents, &c. Dimes and half-dimes were rarely- 



seen. 



The factory "shin-plasters" were taken by the merchants in 
payment for their goods at seventy-five cents on the dollar, 
and at that discount by the fanner. As they accumulated in 
the " till," the merchant would from time to time take them 
to the factories and purchase a bate of cotton cloth. If one 
of the " factory- bugs," (as the boys were called that worked 
in the factories) wanted some actual money to "go to a show," 
or to Utica, he exchanged his "shin-plasters" with the mer- 
chant or a villager, who would generally accommodate him 
by pa3'iug "five shillings" in silver (62i cents) for a dollar, 
but much of it was sold for "four shillings" (50 cents) on the 
dollar, especially in " tight times." The burning of the Farm- 
ers' factory closed " that bank." The Franklin " .shut down" 
during the war of the rebellion, and when they resumed oper- 
-ations they were compelled to pay money, as the Eagle (Chad- 
wick's) in the meantime had set the example of paying money 
to their operatives, instead of the old " shin-plasters" that for 
fifty years had flooded the Valley, and was, during that 
period, the principal circulating medium. The little bills 
have long since disappeared, only now and then one to be 
found in the hands of some one who has preserved it as a 
curious relic of the olden time. From one in the possession 
of the writer, a fac simile is herewith presented : 



■« i^_ 



® tt Remand we ^^^^^^^^-^^^ promise to pay the 

Bearer in Goods, %^ OT ^ at our retail pr ices 

i / ) ^ 

at our Store ini ^"^ $^Parls TWENTY" 

FIVE CENTS. 

A. BROWNELL & CO. 
Parts, Nov. 4, 1846. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 345 

George M. Brownell was a very energetic business man, 
kind hearted and charitable, and a great favorite in commun- 
ity, contributing greatly to the growth and prosperity of Sau- 
quoit ; held many offices of trust ; was postmaster in 1851 ; 
was elected supervisor in 184-i, and his sudden death, in Au- 
gust, 1858, cast a deep gloom over the village. His wife was 
Louisa, daughter of Judge Eliphalet Sweeting, who survived 
him, residing on the old homestead. Their children : Charles 
G., Albert E., Elizabeth, wife of H. O'R. Tucker, of the Troy 
Times, and John J. Brownell, survive. Abner Brownell, the 
founder of the "Franklin Cotton Factory," was born at Ports- 
mouth, R. I., January 30, 1787. In the year 1808 he settled 
in Toddsville, Otsego county, where he engaged as overseer at 
the " Union Cotton Factory." He married Susan, daughter 
of Capt. George Macomber, the " pioneer gardener" of Utica, 
and sister of the venerable Calvin E. Macomber, of Sauquoit. 
In the summer of 1813 he came to what is now Chadwick's, 
in company with Ira Todd and John Chadwick, where they 
founded the "Eagle Factory." In 1825 he withdrew from the 
firm and removed to Sauquoit, and with Mr. Hurlburt founded 
the Franklin factory. He was a practical manufacturer, and 
spent his whole time in and about his works, and from his 
decided and authoritative manner in issuing his orders to the 
operatives, he won the soubriquet of "King" Brownell, by 
which he was generally known during his lifetime. He was 
a very successful manufacturer, and an active Freemason, 
made in old Paris Lodge, Sept. 3, 1822, and was a charter 
member of Sauquoit Lodge. F. & A. M., at its organization in 
1849, and its first treasurer. After the death of his son, 
George M., the mill ceased operations for a number of years ; 
and about that time, he retired from business. The mill was 
started up again a few years since, and carried on by his sons. 
H. D. & E. D. Brownell, until its destruction by fire, on the 
evening of May 4, 1877. His children were : George M., 
Henry D., Ebenezer Dean ; Juliette, wife of Morris S. Savage; 
Emeline, wife of J. J. Millard, of Norwalk, Ct. ; and Fanny; 
three of whom survive : Henry, Dean, and Mrs. J. J. Millard. 
The following obituary appeared in the Utica Morning Her- 
ald of December 28, 1874: 



34-6 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

News was received Sunday evening of the death of Abner 
Brownell of Sauqnoit, one of the oldest residents of the village, 
and a pioneer in the manufacturing business of Oneida county. 
He died of old age at the residence of his son-in-law, M. S. 
Savage, Sunday afternoon. His age was eighty-eight years, 
and for more than a year his strength had been so low that 
when he quietly passed away his death was no sudden be- 
reavement. For twenty years he had lived in retirement 
from active business, and he was known in all the vicinity for 
his chamties and exemplary life. 

Abner Brownell was born January 30, 1787, at Portsmouth. 
Rhode Island. About the year 1813 he removed to where is 
now Chadwick's Mills, and began the manufacture of cotton 
goods in company with John Chadwick, father of Hon. G. W. 
Chad wick of that place. After several years had elapsed he 
removed two miles further up the stream (Saviquoit creek,) 
and founded the cotton mill long known as the Franklin fac- 
tory, and which has since developed into the present large 
establishment. From that time he has resided at Sauquoit, 
and has seen the village grow up about him, lending efficient 
aid in the building up of its local institutions and .its general 
progress. He never sought nor filled public office, ever pre- 
ferring to do unostentatious work in private walks. He was 
loved by the operatives whom he employed. He was me- 
thodic and orderly in the performance of his own work., and 
though he required those who worked for him to do so with 
order and method, he was a kind master. He was a charter 
member of the Sauqnoit Masonic Lodge. He was in old times 
a whig in politics, and in later days he was a staunch though 
quiet republican. He was charitable and honest, diligent in 
business, a loved and revered citizen, and he died full of years 
and honors — honors than which none are prouder, those of a 
well spent life and the respect of one's fellow- men. He leaves 
two sons, who since his retirement from business twenty 
years ago, have conducted the affairs of the mills, and a mar- 
ried dauofhter residing in Connecticut. 

In the spring of 1834!-35, while the " factory boys " were 
skating on the pond early in the evening, the ice being weak- 
ened by a thaw, gave way, and some five or six of the boys were 
precipitated into the water, at that time some ten or twelve 
feet deei), and icy cold. The alarm spread instantly, and 
David Seaton was the first to reach the spot, and plunged 
fearlessly in. He soon came up to the surface with a lad in 
his hands which proved to be his own son. John D. Bacon 
sOon alter reached the spot and also plunged in. Another sor 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 347 

of Mr. Seaton's was soon brought to the surface and both were 
resuscitated, as well as one other lad. Two other of the boys 
could not readily be found, and when brought out all efforts 
to bring them to life proved vain. They were cousins, named 
respectively Smith and Tutton, and both were buried in the 
same grave, their sad fate casting a deep gloom over the com- 
munity. 

Among the old time operatives who wrought in the mills> 
were Nathan Hitchcock and his family. Mr. H. was a promi- 
nent Freemason and removed to Cazenovia, where he died a 
few years since. His son, Hon. Norman P. Hitchcock, was 
the popular landlord of one of the hotels in Utica for a num- 
ber of years and afterward removed to Pitcher, Chenango 
county, where he was a prominent man, representing his dis- 
trict in the Assembly, and died a few years since. A daugh- 
ter of Mr. H. married a Mr. Bi'own ; their son, — Charles M. 
Brown, — now residing in Binghamton, where for many years 
he was the popular landlord of the Lewis House, and the 
American Hotel. Other prominent families, Wt-re the God- 
dards, (a son, Charles Goddard, is a prominent politician in 
New York city,) Andrus, Neaskarns, Magees, Adams, Penners* 
Andersons, Crigiers, Waits, Wests, Browers, Teachouts, Timer- 
sons and David Seaton, whose descendants have many of 
them settled in the village or vicinit3^ 

In September, 1821, David Seaton (brother of James Sea- 
ton j sailed with his family from Scotland, on the ship George 
Buchanan, for Montreal, Canada, to seek a home in the New 
World. The ship carried live hundred passengers, and was 
nine weeks in making the passage. The "home government" 
had promised the " heads of families " one hundred acres of 
land each, in Canada, on condition that they should settle 
thereon. Many availed themselves of the off'er and took pos- 
session, and cleared up the farms. Many others were "hand 
weavers," etc., and unused to pioneer out-door labor, and were 
unfitted for the hard task of clearing off" the laud, and there- 
fore came over to the settled portion of the State of New 
York. Among the latter was David Seaton, who found his 
way to New Hartford, where he gained employment as a 
'' hand weaver," at which he was greatly skilled. A few years 
later, when the Franklin Factory went into operation, he ac- 



348 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

cepted the position of overseer of f he " weave room " and 
charge of the looms, which position he held during the pros- 
perous years of the factory, and until 1851, when he took 
charge of the post office as deputy for George M. Brownell, 
postmaster. At the end of the year he was appointed post- 
master which he held some sixteen years and until his death — 
November 18, 1866 — when his daughter Kate succeeded him. 
He held the office of town clerk many years during the time; 
was an active Freemason, made in old Paris lodge, October 1, 
1827, was a charter member of Sauquoit Lodge F. & A. M., 
and its first secretary, and an officer of that lodge during the 
remainder of his life. He was a prominent member of the M. 
E. Church and active in church and society. He died sud- 
denly at a ripe old age, full of honors, respected by all his 
neighbors and townsmen. 

The next " power" below the Franklin factory, is the grist 
mill and sawmill of the Mould Bros. A sawmill was first 
erected on this site in 1791, by Captain Abner Bacon, which 
was burned down, and the present mills were erected by 
Captain Bacon and the Hon. David Ostrom, in 1796-97. 
Their first miller was William Risley, a Revolutionary soldier, 
afterwards of "Risley's Mills," Litchfield. The old Ostrom 
and Bacon's mills have passed through many hands, and have 
been much enlarged and improved since their first construc- 
tion. Nathaniel Bacon run the mill at an early day, and was 
succeeded by Harry W. Adams, who was afterwards a mer- 
chant at East Sauquoit and a partner of Solomon Rogers, who 
bought him out ; when Mr. Adams removed lo^Lmrol, and in 
company with Ira Shepard, a son of Asa Shepard, the pioneer, 
founded a grist mill there. He still resides there, and Mr. 
Shepard lives near Oneida, both well advanced in years. Mr. 
Adams married Patty, daughter of Enos Knight. James 
Bacon learned the miller's trade of Mr. Adams in the old Ba- 
con & Ostrom mill. Harry W. Adams was made a Mason in 
old Paris Lodge, September 11, 1824, and was Mastei- of the 
Lodge in 1832-33. The old mill afterwards became the 
property of Bacon & Savage, (Captain Bac(m and Stephen 
Savage,) James Bacon running the mill for them. Before 
long he bought out Mr. Savage, and his father — Captain Ba- 
co n — dying in 1832, James Bacon succeeded to the property* 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 349 

which was very successful until 1886. That year wheat ad- 
vanced from $1.25 to $2.13, and he having bought largely at 
the latter figures, as a consequence, when wheat and flour 
soon after rapidly declined, his losses were heavy, from which 
he did not fully recover, and to "cap the climax," the bank- 
rupt law went into operation in 1840, and considerable "paper" 
held by him could not be collected, and he was forced to fail. 
His disaster elicited great sympathy throughout the community, 
James Bacon being a great favorite. He removed to the 
West, where he now resides, at Richmond, 111., at an advanced 
age. The mill was afterward run by a Mr. Braddock, Syl- 
vester Nichols, S. Emerson Mosher and Henry Gilbert. 
Sylvester Nichols, eldest son of the pioneer, Howe Nichols, 
was highly esteemed by the community, and was, during his- 
lifetime, a worthy member of the M. E. Church, and clerk of 
that society for more than forty years. He died May 4, 1864, 
in the 70th year of his age. His wife, Hannah, survives him, 
living with her daughter, Charlotte, wife of Kirtland Griffin, 
in the West. His son, George Nichols, also survives, residing 
in New Haven, Conn. Mrs. Hannah Nichols is one of the six 
sole survivors of the 178 original members of the M. E, 
Church at East Sauquoit. 

January 1, 1852, the veteran miller, William L. Mould, 
with his three sons, ex-Supervisor William F. Mould, George 
and Washington, purchased the old pioneer Bacon and Ostrom 
mills, which they have greatly improved, lowering the race 
and thus greatly increasing the power, putting in new ma- 
chinery in the grist mill and a circular saw in the sawmill, 
erecting a new and substantial storehouse and shed, a spacious 
barn across the road, north of the mills, on the site of the "old 
stone distillery," and each of the three sons have erected new 
and beautiful residences at the " top of the mill hill," their 
various improvements adding much to the beauty of the vill- 
age. William L. Mould was born in the county of Norfolk, 
England, in the year 1793. In his early years he enlisted iu 
the British navy as a sailor, and at one time was stationed at 
New London during the blockade in 1814. After the sur- 
render of Napoleon, the ship to which he belonged was or- 
dered to Portsmouth to assist in guarding Bonaparte, previous 
to his banishment to St. Helena. 



350 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

After peace was declared, he apprenticed himself to lean 
the trade of miller, serving in that capacity seven years. It 
the year 1836, having a large family to support, he decidec 
to emigi'ate to America, and accordingly took passage, anc 
with his family sailed on board the ship Louisa, of Baltimore 
During the passage, an interesting event took place: Th( 
genial and enthusiastic captain of the good ship Louisa 
ordered the "colors" run up to the mast-head, and out on thi 
broad Atlantic, beneath the folds of the star-spangled banner 
— the flag of the free, — proudl}^ floating out on the breeze, s 
son was born to them. Tht^ gallant captain insisted that tht 
new-comer, born under the flag, should be named George 
Washington ; but as an older brother was already christenec 
George, it was agreed on all hands that his name should hd 
Washington. The ship in due time arrived safely in port, in 
the month of May, 1836, and Mr. Mould first took up his resi- 
dence in Cortland, N. Y., where he remained about a 3'^ear 
and then removed to New Hartford, and worked for Samuei 
Lyon. In the year 1838 he removed to South Sauquoit, and 
took charge of the grist-mill there, near the Farmers' factory 
where he remained until the spring of 1842, when he removed 
to the Risleys' mill, in Litchfield, remaining there, however 
but one year, when he returned to the old mill at South Sau- 
quoit, wnere he remained until the purchase of the old Bacon 
& Ostrom mill, in January, 1852, when he took up his resi- 
dence there, where he ever after resided. He was a mac 
greatly esteemed for his pleasant social manner and strict 
integrity ; was a warm-hearted brother of the mystic tie 
initiated in Sauquoit Lodge, F. & A. M., under the Mastership 
of his old-time neighbor and friend, Captain Knight, in the 
year 1852. November 23, 1864, after his long and eventful 
life, (aged 71,) he rested from his labors, his three sons — Wil- 
liam F., George and Washington — succeeding to the business 
under the firm of Mould Bros. 

At this point, two important brooks find their way into the 
Sauquoit. The Gage brook, rising to the southeast and flow- 
ing down through the pioneer farm of Baxter Gage, and into 
the creek, above the mill-pond ; and the tannery brook, rising 
out on the dry-lots hill, on the pioneer Wettnore farm, thence 
down through the deep ravine and across the Campbell road 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 351 

ueai- East Sauquoit, and dowu through the village to the inill- 
pond. Just before it crosses the Campbell road, Doctor Rufus 
Priest at an early day erected a sawmill, east of the road, 
which was afterwaid altered over into a batting factory. In 
1850, James L. Davis and F. M. Knight converted it into a 
paint-mill, putting in mill-stones for grinding the soft red 
slate (the Clinton group) which abounds in the "oulf" above. 
Jesse Tylei' was the "miller," and it j)ruduced a reddish-brown 
powder,which they "barreled u)j" and sold under the name of 
mineral paint. It has since been altered over into a dwellincr- 
house, and is the residence of the venerable foundry man, 
Daniel Blackman. On the opjjosite bank of the brook was 
erected the distillery of Noah Hall, eariy in the centurv, who 
had a run of stones and ground his own grain, and who after- 
wards removed to Earlville. The distilleiy was later on con- 
verted into a pot-ashery by Solomon Rogers, and finally torn 
down about the year 1885. Next bebw, on the main street, 
Deacon Hubbard put in a wheel, which furnished j)ovver for 
a turumg-lathe, ice, and further dowu, to the west of the 
street, was the tannery erected by John Curtiss, the power 
being utilized for grinding the bark, thence the brook flows 
into the mill-]jond. 

Two brooks also flow into the creek throuu-h West Sau- 
quoit ; one taking its rise at the celebrated spring on the pio- 
neer farm of William Babbitt, flows dowu through the o-rove 
on the Gray farm, ciossing the main road near the school- 
house, and down past the old bur3nng-ground and into the 
factory pond; the other brook flows down the deep ravine on 
the Babbitt farm north of the "old Moyer road," crossino- the 
main road near the hotel barn, and into the creek at the 
Abner Bacon place, to the north of the widow Corbett place. 
Next below the grist-mill, and "down the lane," is the site of 
the old carding and fulling mill, cider mill and sawmill elected 
by Captain Bacon and Hon. David Ostrom, and afterward 
sold to Abner Bacon, Jr., in 18U9, who built his house near 
the carding-mill, and north of his " new house," built in 1829 
burned down a few 3'ears since, and a house erected on the 
site by Anson Cloyes. The " old " house was moved up the 
" mill-hill " towards East Sauquoit, and was the residence of 
" Uncle " Jemmy Seaton, afterwards altered over into the cot- 



352 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

tage now occupied by Mr. Parkinson. It was moved in th( 
old-fashioned way, by oxen, — then in general use by th( 
farmers. The building was pried up by long wooden levers 
or " pries," and slim elm trees or sticks of timber placed undei 
each side for " runners," to which was attached by log chains 
two "strings" of yoked oxen, twenty "yokes" in each 
" string," all connected by log chains, each yoke with theii 
owners to drive them — which comprised the " moving bee.' 
At the word of command, 'mid the shoutins; of the drivers and 
the slashing of the long "ox-gads," the cattle all together, with 
a " long pull and strong pull " moved the building a few rods 
when they were halted for a breathing-spell, and the drivers 
all took a " pull " at the jug. When they were sufficiently 
refreshed, the oxen were supposed to be, and another rod or 
two covered, and another halt made, — to rest and refresh the 
drivers — and so on until the building reached its destination. 
If the distance was considerable, the "drawing-bee" would 
.sometimes consume two or three days, and many gallons oi 
New England rum. 

The old carding mill, &c., fell into decay, and in the year 
1863 was destroyed by fire, and the Mould Bros., in lowering 
their race, obliterated all traces of the site. Near here a 
spring brook comes in from the east from the old Crane farm. 
Next below on the creek is the silk mill, erected in 1847 by 
A. Brownell & Co., for a cotton factory, afterwards sold to Hon. 
S. S. Lowery, of Utica, of whom S. W. Rowland & Co, (S. 
W. H. and James A. Shepardson,) purchased it, who lowered 
the race and put in a new water-wheel and run ii as a cotton 
factory for a few years, when they failed, and the property 
went back into the possession of Mr. Lowery, and was then 
run by his brother James a short time. In the fall of 1873, 
the cotton machinery was taken out and sold, and the prop- 
erty purchased by Messers. L. R. Stelle & Sons, of Paterson, 
N. J„ and converted into a silk mill. Later on, a company 
was organized under the name of " Sauquoit Silk Manufac- 
turing Company." L. R. Stelle, President ; Richard Rossmas- 
sler, of Philadelphia, Pa., Treasurer ; A. D. Stelle, Secretary, 
From eighty-five to one hundred operatives are employed, and 
from forty thousand to fifty thousand pounds of silk used 
annually, costing on an an average $6.00 per pound. The 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 353 

process of manufacture is technically calknl '• thrown" and the 
product,"tram"and"orgaDzine," for wearing purposes and fringe 
for ladies' trimmings. Next below on the stream is the site of 
the sawmill erected b}' John D. Bacon, to which a lane run 
down from the main road from near the Noah Parmelee place. 
The mill was abandoned about 1852 and fell to deca3^ ^^^ 
dwelling house north of the silk mill indicating the locality 
Near here two brooks pour in from the east, one from Crane's 
gulf down past the residence of General Gates, and the other 
down through the Camp Grithn farm ; a small brook also 
flows in from the west from the old Camp Parmelee farm, 
(now Deacon Hial Fitch's.) A little below, the celebrated 
Tucker (or Butler) trout brook flows in. This brook takes its 
rise near Paris Hill, flows across the Moyer road near Beriah 
Head's residence, (now Fobes Head,) thence down through the 
Asa Shepard (Macomber) farm and old Butler farm, (now 
James Eiffe's,) is joined by another spring brook, on which 
stood the pioneer distillery of John Butler; thence down 
through the "gulf," crossirig the main road near Asa Tucker's 
residence, and before entering the creek it furnishes the sup- 
ply for the railroad water tank near Chadwicks. Where it 
crosses the main road, Asa Tucker, at an early day erected 
the pioneer batting factory, and also manufactured candle 
wicking — also used in the primitive oil lamps when whale oil 
was burned. The batting was made from the " waste" or re- 
fuse cotton from the carding rooms of the factories and re- 
carded here by " batting cards," producing fleecy sheets, which 
were put up in pa])er rolls weighing a pound. Ra}' Nichols 
was the factotum of this establishment. Mr. Tucker carried 
on this business successfullyfor many years,and until the old- 
fashioned lamp wicking was superseded by the woven flat 
wicks for the kerosene lamps, and then the factory stood idle 
for many years, and was finally converted into a cheese fac- 
tory. After the erection of the cheese factory at East Sau- 
quoit, cheese making here was abandoned. 

The old farm houses erected by the pioneers were built with 

an immense chimney in the centre, on a large stone foundatioQ 

in the cellar; a huge fire-place was constructed in the "living 

room," or kitchen, and a smaller fire-place on the opposite side 

w 



354 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

of the _^reat chimney in the "spare room," or parlor. Side of the 
large fire-place in the kitchen was built the " brick oven," a 
capacious affair six or seven feet in depth, four feet vt^ide and 
about three feet in hight — inside measure. A flue led from 
the oven into the chimney to carry off the smoke, and a trap 
ih the bottom to dump the embers and ashes into the ash-pit 
— constructed beneath. A solid iron door, about eighteen 
inches square, fitted in an iron frame laid in the brick work, 
closed the front closely. To heat the oven, straight grained 
body maple wood, about four feet in length, was split fine, 
(about the size of a hoe-handle,) the splitting of " oven-wood'' 
beino- one of the boy's " chores," and on baking-day the brick 
oven was filled with this wood put in closely, (criss-cross,) and 
io-uited, and the great oven door closed. When the wood had 
burned out the oven was sufficiently heated, and then the em- 
bers and ashes were deftly raked into the ash-pit below and 
the loaves of bread, etc., quickly placed in the oven with the 
" fire slice," (a long handled iron shovel,} the door was closed 
and the bread baked by the heat retained in the surrounding 
bricks of the great oven. The cooking, etc., for the family 
was done in the great fire-place, which was furnished with a 
crane of iron, which was swung out into the room, the kettles 
were suspended to it by " pot hooks," and the loaded " crane" 
then swung back over the fire. At night the live embers and 
coals were covered up with ashes to "keep the fire," and in 
the morning raked open, the kindling wood put on and the 
dull coals blown into a blaze by hand-bellows. The follow- 
ing description of home-life at the early day, clipped from an 
" exchange," is true of all our old pioneers' homes : 

" One hundred years ago not a pound of coal or a cubic foot 
of illuminating gas had been burned in the country. No iron 
stoves were used, and no contrivances for economizing heat 
were employed until Dr. Franklin invented the iron frame 
fireplace, which still bears his name. All cooking and warm- 
ing, in town as well as in the countr}^ was done with the aid 
of a fire kindled on the brick hearth or in the brick ovens. 
Pine knots or tallow candles furnished the light for the long 
winter nights, and sanded floors supplied the place of rugs 
and carpets. The water used for household purposes was 
drawn from deep wells by the creaking sweep. No form of 
pump was used in this country, so far as we can learn, until 
after the commencement of the present century. There were 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 355 

no friction matches in those early days, by the aid of whicb 
a fire could be easily kindled, and if the fire went out upon 
the hearth over night, and the tinder was damp, so that the 
spark would not catch, the alternative remained of wading 
through the snow a mile or so to borrow a brand of a neigh- 
bor. Only one room in any house was warm, unless some 
member of the family was ill ; in all the rest the temperature 
was at zero many nights in winter. The men and women of 
a hundred years ago undressed and went to their beds in a 
temperature colder than that of our barns and woodsheds, and 
they never complained." 

The batting manufactured by Mr. Tucker was used for bed- 
quilts, petticoats and quilted hoods. A "quilting bee" among 
the old-time mothers was an event. A set of quilting frames 
was kept in each neighborhood and went the rounds for these 
occasions. A fire was lighted in the fire-place of the " spare 
room," the quilt stretched on the frames in the center of the 
great room, the frames being supported by a chair placed un- 
der each corner, and the matrons who had responded to the 
invitation that Mrs. So and 80 "had got a quilt on," surround- 
ed the frames and with gleaming needles and busy fingers, 
vigorously attacked Tucker's batting, and glibly chatted and 
visited, inspired by the steaming urn of " store tea " and the 
exciting importance of the occasion, — a " quilting" then being 
equivalent to the announcement now that "cards aie out" for 
a wedding. The good old mothers of those days have all 
gone to rest, and the then expectant brides are grandmothers 
now. 

Asa Tucker, the veteran manufacturer, was a man who 
took a deep interest in the growth and development of the 
village, the educational enterprises and society ; was of mod- 
est, unassuming manners, and possessed in a marked degree 
the rare faculty of minding his own business, and greatly- 
respected, he went to his rest a few years since at a ripe old 
age. His wife and one son, Francis P. Tucker, A. M., survive 
him, residing on the old homestead. Next below on the 
creek was the saw mill erected by 'Squire Kirtland Griffin — 
the Revolutionary hero and pioneer — in the year 1797-98. 
It stood on the east bank of the creek, and the large upper 
reservoir of the Chadwick's factory now flows over the site. 
Further down a large brook from the eastern hillside flows 



356 HISTOEY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

into Chadwick's lower pond, and from the western hillside j 
similar brook flows to the creek, down through the deep glei 
on the old pioneer farm of Benjamin Merrill, crossing th( 
main road near the residence of M. M. Neal. Near the dis 
trict school house at Chadwicks, is the site of the saw mil 
erected by John Greenleaf in 1801, and soon after he als( 
erected a carding and fulling mill on the east branch of th< 
treek near the road bridge below, which, after it was disman 
tied and stood empty, was known as the "' spook house.' 
John Greenleaf was born in Bolton, Mass., March 26, 1760 
came to Whitestown in 1800, and soon after to what is no\< 
Chadwicks. In 1821 he removed to Volney, Oswego county 
where he died in 1827. HiS son, Abel Greenleaf, marriec 
Lucy, a daughter of Horace Nichols — the pioneei- — and livec 
a little north of East Sauquoit. He was an ingenious me- 
chanic and died at an early day, his wife surviving him manv 
years. Their childien were Lucy, George, Joseph H., Jau€ 
and Mary. Joseph H. Greenleaf, the only survivor of the 
family, is a distinguished mechanic and inventor. Amonc 
his last and most important inventions, is the sets of small 
looms (six tended by one operative) for the weaving of silk 
ribbons. He removed to New Haven, Conn., n)any years ago 
where with his family he still resides. In the summer oi 
1813, John Chadwick, Abner Brownell and Ira Todd came 
from Toddsville, Otsego county to what is now Chadwicks 
ano founded the Eagle Cotton Factory. They purchased both 
of John Greenleaf 's "powers," removing the old saw mill to 
the east, up the road to the upper end of the present village, 
and converted it into a dwelling house. Up the creek they 
purchased of Benjamin Merrill and of Mathew Yale sufficient 
land along the creek to give them the necessary power, erect- 
ed a frame cotton factory on the site of the present stone fac- 
tory, and a little further to the east built a machine shop for 
their repairs. Theodore and AUyn Gilbert built their reser- 
voir, and also the canal leading to the factory, (the reservoir 
has since been raised, flooding many more acres than then,) 
and they went into operation, their factory being called the 
" Eagle Mills." The firm dissolved some years after, Mr. Todd 
i-eturning to Otsego county, and Mr. Brownell in 1825 re- 
moved to Sauquoit and founded the Franklin Factory. Mr. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 357 

Chadwick remained at the Eaole, puttino- in new and im- 
proved machinery from time to time, as required, anrl finally 
his increasing business demanded a correspondino- increase of 
buildings and facilities. Extensive a.(]ditions were therefore 
— in 1843-44 — erected and tilled with costly and improved 
machinery. Near the close of one sultry summer's day, 
(June 25,1844,) the builders were puttiog on the finishing 
touches — the particular length of lightning-rod with the 
weather-vane thereon — above the dome beneath which the 
bell swung to and fro that summoned the hands to toil or its 
cessation, and had erected that part of the rod high in air 
without, however, attaching the other lengths reaching to the 
ground connection ; when the sharp clang of the bell beneath 
them announced the day's work done. Slowly descending, 
they wended their several ways to supper and repose; an 
hour or two of another day would finish all up. 

" Who can tell what a day will bring forth ?" The setting 
sun plunged into a dense black cloud which just then looming 
up from the western hills, rapidly crowded itself resistless on 
and up, oveispreading the valley with its darkening gloom ; 
soon a few sudden puffs of wind, a few large, scattering drops 
of rain, forerunner of the impending storm; then from out 
that inky blackness, with blinding flash and clattering ciash, 
leaped a .single vivid gleam, down the rod, through the dome, 
the bell, thence scattering through the mill, glinting along the 
polished metal machinery and fleecy cotton. Everything 
seemed to be instantly ablaze. 

The morning sun, bright and clear, — after the shower, — 
evolving grateful fragrance from field and flower, ushered in 
another day, disclosing the smoking ruins of those extensive 
mills; the forked lightning had put on the finishing touches. 
The careful accumulations of a lifetime lay smoldering in the 
glare of that morning sun ; not one dollar of insurance; only 
courage and iron will left of all yesterday's prosperity and afllu- 
ence. A new and substantial mill sprang up from tho.se ashes 
constructed of stone (and "pluck") and filled with costly and 
improved machinery. During the subsequent years they 
were largely extended and beautified by the present owner 
and successor, the Hon. George W. Chadwick, who, as the 
result of his industry and perseverance, can point with pride 



358 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

to a model cotton mill in all its appointments, and one of th( 
most beautiful and tidy manufacturing villages in the State 
Himself a practical manufacturer, his selection of intelligen 
and skilled operatives in the various departments insure: 
success. His watchfulness and fostering care, and supervisioi 
for years of the common school there has doubtless contribu 
ted largely to this result, la3nng the foundation of an educa 
tion valuable both to them and the employer; judiciousb 
selecting competent teachers, and evincing a lively interest ii 
the progress of the pupils. The old school house, located a 
the forks of the main road, was destroyed by fire some thirti 
years ago, but the school was continued without interruptioi 
in one of the cottages during the erection of the present schoc 
house, which is located near the depot. The capacity of th 
mills is about two hundred and eighty looms and twelve thou 
sand spindles, using forty to fifty bales of cotton weekly, pre 
ducing nearly uinet}^ thousand yards of yard-wide goods pe 
week, (which are disposed of in New York city,) and furnish 
ing employment to about two hundred operatives. Boti 
steam and water-power are used for driving the machinery 
the manufacturing being under the superintendence of Bee 
jamin Groff, Jr. 

The elegant cottage residence for the proprietor, in proces 
of erection within the shadow of the monarch elms, near th 
mill, will add much to the beauty of the street and village 
already one of the most attractive in the valley. The black 
ened and ruined walls of the Franklin factor}'- at Sauquoi 
destroyed by fire a year or two since, would furnish a fiel 
for similar enterprise, in its restoration and reconstruction 
its desirable location in the thriving little village of Sauquoi 
with its churches, academy and schools; the admirable watei 
power, one of the best on the sti'eam, would seem a favorabl 
opening for an energetic capitalist to realize handsomely o 
the investment of money there, especially in view of the pros 
perity possible, with the reviving industries of the countr 
in the near future, of which the signs of the times give res 
sonable promise. 

John Chadwick, the founder of the Eagle Mills, (now Chac 
wick's,) was born at Lancashire, England, January 5, 1781 
He came to this country at an earlj' day and settled at Pro\ 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 359 

dence, R. I., where he married Betsey Snow. He soon after 
removed to Toddsville, Otsego county, and engaged with the 
" Union Cotton Factory." Here he formed the acquaint- 
ance of Abner Brownell and Ira Todd, and in company with 
them came to the Sauquoit valley to establish the factory, in 
the year 1813. They were attracted hither by a letter writ- 
ten to Abner Brownell by his brother-in-law, Calvin E. Ma- 
comber, calling his attention to the excellent water-power 
afforded by the Sauquoit creek, and especially the site ot the 
John Greenleaf mills. (The venerable Mr. Macomber, now 
residing at West Sauquoit, is the only survivor of the whole 
party.) John Chadwick was a practical manufacturer of 
great skill, and gave his whole time and attention to the de- 
tails of the mill. He visited his native land (England) at an 
earl}' day, chiefly to examine the improvements then being 
made there in cotton machinery, and brought back with him 
a quantity of the large wooden engraved blocks for printing 
calicoes, which he put into use upon his return, and made 
"prints" — as the}^ were called — for a time. Later on he pur- 
chased a farm adjoining the pioneer Coe farm, (afterwards 
sold to Hugh Garlick,) his wife thinking it would be prefera- 
ble to bring up the children on a farm ; and here his son, 
Hon. Geoi'ge W. Chadwick, the present proprietor of " the 
Mills," was born. He was a man of great executive ability, 
and managed his extensive business with economy and thrift? 
he was kind-hearted and charitable, and took care of all the 
English emigrants that came to him, until such time as they 
could procure work, and aided them in procuring employment. 
In business matters he was prompt and punctual, and it was 
a common saying, that "Uncle John Chadwick's word was as 
good as his note." Their children were : Sally, Betsey, Mary, 
(who married George Fisk, and some years after his death, 
married Hon. Eli Avery, and died February 22, 1878,) John, 
Abigail, Thomas, Jane and George W,,of whom three survive: 
Sally, widow of Alanson A. Butler, and with her son George 
resides at Willowvale ; John, who for many years was a part- 
ner in the mills, but retired a few years since, and resides on 
the old pioneer Charles Cooledge farm, north of West Sau- 
quoit ; Abigail, wife of William Harrison Royce, residing on 
Mary street, Utica; and on George W. Chadwick, (Member of 



360 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Assembly in 1871 and 1874,) who has succeeded to the Chad- 
wick's Mills, and resides there. John Chadwick, after his 
long life in active business, one of the pioneer manufacturers 
of the Sauquoit valley, greatly respected by all, entered into 
rest March 12, 1858, aged 75. His wife, Betsey Snow, sur- 
vived him Several years, and passed away April 1, 1867. 

Near the forks of the road leading from the main road to 
Chad wick's, a brook from the western hill crosses and flows 
into the creek. Next below on the creek, is the sawmill 
erected early in the century by John Mosher — revolutionary 
soldier and pioneer — and afterwards run by his son, Abel Mo- 
sher, for many years. This locality (in the town of New 
Hartford) is rendered historical by two tragic events. June 
19, 184-8, Mason Eastman, while engaged in drawing lumber 
from this sawmill, his team became frightened and ran, where- 
upon he sprang before them to seize their bits, but ineffectu- 
ally, the team dashing over him, inflicting injuries from which 
he shortly died. Mr. E. lived on the main road south of the 
Benjamin Merrill farm, was a farmer and noted mover of 
buildings, and the old-time bugler for the old cavaliy regi- 
ment, "playing the bugle" with great power and skill, and a 
great favorite of the "troopers." A few years since Jonathan 
Tibbitts, who had succeeded to the old sawmill and added a 
plaster mill and cider mill, "doing off"' a room where he slept 
alone, was one night murdered in his bed, mysteriously', and 
robbed. 

Next below, Levi Beebe, at on early day, erected a calender 
factory, where the cloth from the factories (then coming from 
the hand-looms rough and unsightly,) was run through heavy 
metal rollers and the surface finished smooth, ready for mar- 
ket. This mill was afterward converted into a scj'the shop 
by Abner Bartlett, who was succeeded by Amasa and Charles 
Millard. It was next — 1817 — converted into a machine shop 
by Amos Rogers, Sr., and Oliver G. Rogers; afterwards by 
Allen Sweet converted into a factory for manufacturing cot- 
ton yarn; and in 1835 converted into a foundry b}' Daniel 
Blackmail, and carried on by him until 1810, then by Hux- 
foi'd & Roger's, and afterwar-ds by Roger's, Spencer & Co. 

Daniel Blackman, who established the foundry at Willow- 
vale, in 1835, and made the castings (finished up by the- 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 3G1 

Rogers' Machine Shop,) for the machiiier}' in operation in the 
valley, was born in New Milford, Ct, in 1801, and came to the 
Sauquoit valley in 1806. When a youno- man he worked in 
the old Paris furnace, and afterwards^l822 — run a furnace 
in Swankum, N. J. Heie he commenced an experiment, 
which pioved a success and the result was he was the first to 
reduce the iron ores by anthracite coal instead of charcoal, at 
that day deemed to be impossible. Mixing the Lehigh coal 
in small quantity with charcoal at first, he gradually increa.sed 
the proportion of Lehigh, nntil he finally worked his furnace 
entirely on the anthracite coal. This was one of the great 
discoveries of the age. "Anthracite iron" is not, in quality, as 
good as "charcoal iron," but it will answer the purpose for al- 
most everything required, and the vast demand for iron, called 
for in the busy generation, in the gigai. tic enterprises; thousands 
of miles of railroads, with their locomotives and other require- 
ments; iron plated ships; iron bridges spanning the rivers 
and streams of the whole continent; great cities with iron 
fronted buildings ; the vast requiremei»ts of the war materials ; 
cannon shot and shell, " Dalghrens" and huge " Columbiads," 
all weie rendered possible by his discovery, as charcoal 
sufficient to produce the vast amount of iron that has been 
called into requisition could not be furnished from the entire 
forests of the United States, even if it were possible to trans- 
l)ort its entile bulk to the furnaces from the remote wooded 
sections. He afterward went to West Point, N. Y., and en- 
gaged in the Government foundery there. While engaged i a 
this Government foundery he made anothei important dis- 
covery — that cannons, if cast hollow, would be of far greater 
strength than when cast solid (as they then cast them,) and 
afterwards bored out. This principle he tried in vain to get 
adopted, as the pompous officials in charge would not 
accept any suggestions from a subordinate, and they went on 
making the cannon in the old way. When he established his 
foundery in Willowvale in 1835, it was the only loundery in 
the valley, and he made the castings for the factories far and 
near. In casting the laige shafts required, he attempted to 
introduce the principle of casting them hollow, but found it 
difficult to convince his patrons that a shaft, robbed of its 
centre of solid iron, could be stronger than one entirely of 



302 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

solid iron, and weighing much more than a hollow shaft of 
the same diameter. He prevailed, however, and his hollow- 
shafts were adopted and found to be much stronger, and the 
"gudgeons" for the great water-wheels, and all the other large 
shafts requiring great strength, were thereafter cast hollow. 
The general reader will get an idea of the principle, by a brief 
illustration. The blacksmith that "sets" the tire of a wagon 
wheel, heats the tire, thus expanding its size, and when heat- 
ed, places it about the wheel, when it is cooled by water and 
it shrinks in size, compressing the yielding fellies and spokes 
into firm position. If the wagon wheel was absolutel}'- un- 
yielding — like solid iron — the heated tire in shrinking would 
burst asunder, the particles and grain of its composition sep- 
arating and tearing apart by the great strain. A shaft, say 
eight inches in diameter, cast solid, the surrounding sand of 
the mold being removed, is at first red hot. The outside 
being exposed to the air, cools off first and commences to 
shrink, the inside still being hot and expanded but absolutely 
unyielding, even to the immense squeezing of the outside 
cooling-shell, so to speak, the result is the whole outside of its 
structure, to a point well toward the centre from all parts of 
the periphery must give way and is disintegrated, the parti- 
cles of iron torn asunder, the cohesiveness destroyed and the 
strength of the shaft impaired. An inch or two of the centre 
of the shaft is not strained but cools perfectly, but if this 
casting was designed for a cannon, that perfect part, the cen- 
tre, would be bored out, leaving the outside shell (that has 
torn and separated its parts in shrinking) to withstand the 
explosive power of the powder, with its weakened and im- 
paired structure. That is why cannons made in the old way 
often burst. The eight-inch shaft, cast with a hole through 
the centre from end to end, say one and one-half inch diam- 
eter, in cooling, has no offered unyielding substance to resist 
its shrinking, and the particles of the shell go firmly together 
by cohesion, which can be facilitated by flooding the centre 
hole with a stream of water from a hose ; and the shaft thus 
cast by Daniel Blackman's method, though weighing much 
less, is vastly stronger than the solid shaft, weighing more- 
During the war of the rebellion, nearly twenty years after 
Mr. Blackman had failed and this old-time foundery had passed 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 363 

into other hands, a founder at Pittsburj];h, Pa., introduced this 
^'hollow casting" principle in the making of the immense can- 
non, the "Swamp Angel," and other great guns, called Colum- 
biads, and they proved, of course, a great success. It is a 
coincidence, however, that this manufacturer was originally 
from New Berlin, N. Y., where Daniel Blackmau had years 
ago introduced his hollow shafts into the manufactories there 
and at Morris and other factories in that vicinity, and the 
subject had been ventilated and the principle argued and ex- 
pounded in all that manufacturing region. The venerable 
fouuderyman, Daniel Blackman, who by his skill and knowl- 
edge has contributed so largely to the success ol the great iron 
interests ol the country, now, childless and alone, finds a home 
in the old sawmill erected by Doctor Rufus Priest many years 
ago on tannery brook, at East Sauquoit, altered over by him 
into a dwelling. His aged wife, daughter of the pioneer 
Elkanah Hewitt, passed away a year or two ago. Unhonored 
and unknown, the veteran founder and inventor, verging upon 
eighty years, earns his daily bread teamiug at odd jobs with 
his yoke of oxen, commanding the respect, however, of his 
neighbors in the little community by his sturdy, unflinching 
honesty; a hero.at his great age, in his reduced circumstances 
struggling to independently earn his bread by the sweat of 
his brow — a lamentably common fate of inventors and those 
who have given to the world great and beneticial discuveries 
and improvements. 

Next below on the creek, is the site of the tannery erected 
by the pioneer, John Mosher at an early day, and carried on 
by him and his son Abijah. In the year 1818 this was con- 
verted into a machine shop by Amos Rogers. Sr., his son 
Oliver G. Roo-ers and Allen Sweet. The business after a few 
years was assumed by Oliver G. Rogers who continued until 
the year 1887, when his son Amos Rogers succeeded to the 
Works, and canied them on until they were destroyed by 
fire in July 18G6, the firm being Rogers & Spencer (Julius A. 
Spencer of Utica), Oliver G. Rogers being the draughtsman. 
From the west a brook flows into the creek through the cele- \^ 
brated " Rogers' Glen," which was laid out and beautified by 
Amos Rogers, who in his leisure hours built the walks, quar- 
ried the stone, and laid the walls to restrain the brook, and 




o 
W 

02 

I— < 

w 

o 
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THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 365 

performed all the labor ivith his oiun hands. A brook flows 
in from the east, on which is a small machine shop for the 
manufacture of sewing machines. 

A few years after the war of 1812, in one of the manufac- 
turing towns of England, suddenly appeared a young Ameri- 
can. He was apparently half witted, the butt of the superin- 
tendent and operatives of the mill, but good-natured and harm- 
less, ready to help at any odd job of lubber-lifting without 
other reward than the small gratuity tendered him. He 
gradually won his way into the good graces ot the master and 
into the cotton mill, from which all but trusted operatives 
were rigidly excluded, for fear that the secret of the manufac- 
ture of cotton goods — (then jealously guarded by the English 
as the Russians do their secret of the manufacture of sheet 
iron) — should be disclosed to other nations, and their growing 
monopoly in those fabrics destroyed. Months glided by ; the 
supposed stupid helper was granted the freedom of the mill. 
In the privacy of his boarding-house room, far into the night, 
he, with tireless patience, transferred to paper full and accu- 
rate drawings of that most mtricate and wonderful machinery 
which he each day fui'tively studied. His carefully-locked 
room during the da}' excited the curiosity of some Paul Pry 
among the boarders, and through the key-hole he was discov- 
ered in his night role of draughtsman. The game was up. 
He was reported to the superintendent, but before the matter 
culminated in his arrest, his suspicions, ever on the alert, were 
aroused, and hastily gathering up his drawings, he fled to the 
coast and, fortunately securing passage on a small sailing ves- 
sel,, sailed for America, ere he could be intercepted. There 
was no telegraph in those days. The he»-o of that adventure 
was the late Orville G. Rogers, of Willowvale-on-the-Sauquoit, 
the celebrated master mechanic and founder of the extensive 
machine shops so long operated at that place, and the pioneer 
manufacturer of cotton and woolen machinery in this country. 

The late John Chadwick, with Abner Brownell, the pioneer 
manufacturers of cotton goods, at that peiiod were partners ; 
their primitive mill (The Eagle) was located at Chadwick's, 
on the site of the present extensive mills. But with their 
facilities, they could only spin the 3''arn, which they sent out 
among the inhabitants of the surrounding countiy to be woven 



366 HISTOKY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

into cloth, by the hand-looms, then common in every house- 
hold. The return of Mr. Rogers from his perilous trip, with 
his drawings, from which he was enabled to manufacture the 
desired machinery, revolutionized the cotton business, and 
gave impetus to the extensive factories in Central New York 
— the Chadwick's at South Sauquoit, the Farmers' on the site 
of the paper mill, the Franklin at Sauquoit, and the factories 
at New Berlin, Morris, Cooperstown, Clinton, Manchester, 
New Hartford, Burratone and New York Mills, as well as the 
woolen mills at Washington Mills and Clayville, erected by 
the late Frederick HolHster — the construction of all of which 
was only, at that time, rendered possible by his skill and 
ingenuity. The machine shop founded by him, located oppo- 
site the entrance to Rogers' Glen, with its curious and com- 
plicated machinery and tools, the result ot half a century of 
skill and industry, and giving employment to hundreds of 
trained workmen, fell before the incendiary torch; grass grows 
on the site, and his sons, among the most skillful mechanics 
and inventors of the age, turned their attention to other lines 
of manufacture, and sought homes in a distant State. One 
member of the family gave to the world the locomotive head- 
light; another — a grandson — in a South American State,(Ecua- 
dor,) is in the employ and confidence of the government as 
chief engineer in the construction of railroads, bridges, and 
other improvements. A number of the factories erected at 
that time have been destroyed by fire, and as a rule have not 
been rebuilt; the Eagle factory (Chadwick's) alone furnishing 
the exception. 

Oliver G. Rogers was born in Hopkington, Rhode Island, 
in 1790. At an early day he removed to Laurens, Otsego 
county, and from thence to Sauquoit in 1816, where in com- 
pany with Allen Sweet he run the machine shop of the old 
Quaker factory, (afterwards Franklin factory.) The following, 
year (1817) he removed to Willow vale, and converted the 
scythe shop (afterwards D. Blackman's foundery) into a ma- 
chine shop, and the next year (1818) converted the John Mo- 
sher tannery — on the site below — into a machine shop, which 
in after years became a business of great magnitude. His 
children were six sons : Amos, Hiram, Lewis, Charles D., 
Henry S., LaFayette and a daughter, Charlotte, wife of Rev. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 367 

John Waugh, the fourth pastor of the Presbyterian church at 
West Sauquoit, (1841,) ani now of Canton, N. Y. He was a 
warm-hearted Freemason, made in old Amicable Lodge of 
New Haitford ; his brother Nathan and his father, Amos, Sr., 
were also members of old Amicable, and his son Lewis was 
made a Mason in Sauquoit Lodge in 186-i, of which Oliver G. 
was also a member. He made many improvements and 
inventions in cotton and woolen machinery, and in the power 
tools of the shop, and during his long and busy life, achieved 
the reputation of the foremost mechanic in the country. He 
was highly esteemed in the community, and went to his rest 
November 2, 1866, at the advanced age of 76. His children 
survive, with the exception of Amos, his other sons all resid- 
ing in Providence, R. I. Amos Rogers died December 2, 1879, 
at the age of 64. 

The following obituary appeared in the Utica Daily Ob- 
server of December 2, 1879: 

Amos Rogers, who for nearly forty years maintained a high 
position as a leading manufacturer in Oneida county, died at 
his old home in Willowvale, in the town of New Hartford, at 
seven o'clock this morning. 

Mr. Rogers was born at Laurens, Otsego county, in 1815. 
His father, a Rhode Islander by birth, made his home in this 
section early in the century. The five surviving brothers of 
Amos Rogers are now all residents of Providence, having gone 
one by one from homes widely scattered to the State of their 
ancestors. In 1816 Mr. Rogers' father removed to Willow- 
vale, where he established a machine shop, which subsequently 
became a great manufactory of cotton and woolen machinery. 
Amos was educated at Clinton, under Professor Avery. He 
developed uncommon taste for mathematics and engineering, 
in which branches he made surprising progress. To the end 
of his life he was a master of these sciences, theoretically and 
practically. 

In 1837 Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Emily Holt, of 
Willowvale. She survives him, and on the old homestead of 
her father, to which the young couple went after their mar- 
riage, the famil}' still reside. 

About the year 1840 Mr. Amos Rogers took charge of his 
father's business. Financial embarrassments had overtaken 
the concern. The young man worked with such energy and 
skill that in a comparatively short time every dollar of the 
indebtedness was liquidated and the business had grown to 
manamoth proportions. From that time to 1866 Mr. Rogers' 



368 HISTORY OF THE TOWxV OF PARIS. 

success was conspicuous. He made one addition after another 
to his establishment, till he gave employment to more than 
three hundred men, and was reckoned among the great capi- 
alists of Oneida county. Then came reverses. In July, 
1866, the extensive works were consumed by fire, involving 
a'^los« of more than $150,000 and the destruction of the whole 
business. The insurance was inadequate, and it all went to 
secure the claim of a silent partner. Through this calamit}'- 
Mr. Roo-ers, after thirty years of tireless work and enterprise, 
found himself in a single day reduced from affluence to com- 
parative poverty. But adversity could not conquer his strong 
will nor crush his brave soul. He spent a year at Watertown 
as superintendent of Hoard's spinning manufactory. During 
the next two years he served as superintendent of (he LaFay- 
ette Acrricultural Works in Indiana. He was then engaged 
to remove the machine shops of the Michigan Cental railroad 
from Detroit to Jackson. Returning from Jackson, he spent 
a year at Willowvale, and then accepted the place of superin- 
tendent of the Bay State Mill of the American Screw Com- 
pany at Providence, R. I., which position he contmued to hold 
till his death. 

Mr. Roo-ers was a marked and conspicuous character. His 
D-enerosity was boundless. He made no ostentatious display 
of charity, but it was his i)ride and ambition to do good to 
those around him. Among those who have been in his em- 
ploy there aie hundreds who will bear willing testimony to 
his kindness and his helpfulness. He was no sentimental 
philanthropist. He was strict and exacting in all the details 
of business. He required the best work of those whom he 
employed, but he never failed to appreciate and reward fidelity 
and industry. He shared his successes with his men, and 
when reverses came he carried to new fields of labor their 
symr)athy and good wishes. He was a practical Christian, 
makino- the golden rule the guide of his life, and doing in all 
thino-s as he would be done by. His studies covered a wide 
ranoe of knowledge, beyond his business pursuits, and his 
conversation was always interesting and pointed. 

Mr. Rogers leaves a family of six children to mourn the 
loss of as kind a father as ever lived. To them and to his 
devoted wife, the sympathy of the community will be freely 
o-iven. His children are Mrs. Amelia* Grant, the widow of 
the late Bradley Grant; Mr. Julian A. Rogers, of Providence ; 
Mr. Arthur A. Rogers, of Ecuador, who is making his first 
visit in ten years to his early home ; Mr. A. deL. Rogers, of 
Willowvale; Miss Eureka and Mi.ss Mary Rogers, of Willow- 
vale. 

* Cornelia Gi:ant. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 3G0 

Amos Rogers leaves a name that will be cherished in this 
community, for it may be said of him with absolute truth, 
that he was faithful to every trust. 

Next below is the site ol a irrist-mill and sawmill which 
stood near the toll-gate, and was erected early in the century 
by a Mr. Barnard. Salmon Holmes was the miller. The 
sawmill was owned by a " stock company," each stockholder 
running it in turn, one week at a time. Next below, and a 
little above the highway bridge, stood a sawmill at an early 
day ; below the bridge is John Pringie's sawmill, erected 
within a few years. Next below, at Checkerville, (now 
Washington Mills,) was the woolen factory built by a 
Mr. Ducroix, and called the "Leeds Manufacturing Company." 
It was short lived, and soon after converted into a plaster 
mill and sawmill. A brook from the east near here flows in 
on which is the noted wagon shop of Peter S. Eastman. 
Next below is the site of the old Kilborn grist mill, converted 
into a wuolen factory by Frederick Hollister, afterwards 
carried on by Kernan & Helm, and now by the A. T. Stew- 
art estate of New York city. Next below was the 
" Mechanics' Cotton Factory," built in 1818 by a company of 
mechanics, afterwards converted into a satinet factory and 
known as the " Dumb Factory," run by James S. Foster, D. C. 
Mason, and others. August 30, 1841, Frederick Hollister 
purchased the property of D. C. Mason and J. Manchester, 
and converted it into a woolen factor}^ painting the outside in 
" squares" (about one foot square,) of various bright colors, 
like the squares of a checker board, and the place came to be 
known as Checkerville. Later on, the factory — a frame build- 
ing — was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Hollister built a Jaroe 
stone factory on the site which he named "Washington Mills,'' 
from which the village, a few years since, was named. These 
mills burned down, and another stone factory built on the 
site, which in turn burned down, and Mr. Hollister, havino- 
failed, the stone of the ruiueil walls were crusiiea in a ma- 
chine (large toothed rollers,) by James Rhodes, and used to 
macadamize the old plank road. Next below was the saw- 
mill and plaster mill erected early in the century by "Forest" 
Kellogg, (called " Forest" from the circumstance of being the 

X 



370 HISTOEY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

first white child born in the town of New Hartford, then a 
wilderness,) and the site is now occupied by the extensive 
hoe and fork works of Huntley & Babcock. Next below was 
the grist mill and sawmill, also erected by " Forest" Kellogg. 
The grist mill remained for many years, and was finally de- 
stroyed by fire. Below this site stood an oil mill many years 
ago. Two brooks, one east and one west, and Mud creek be- 
low New Hartford, flow in. Next below, at New Hartford, 
was the papei- mill erected by Samuel Lj'on in 1800. Next 
below is the cotton factory erected in 1816 by a stock com- 
pany, Samuel Hicks being the first manager. It has been 
much enlarged, and is now operated by the ' New Hartford 
Cotton Manufacturing Company." Next below is the grist 
mill erected by Judge Sanger in 1790, afterwards run by 
Samuel Lyon, and now run by J. McLean ; next was the 
Richardson sawmill, and then a batting factory, where coarse 
yarn was also made b}^ Reed & Allen ; below this was the 
Stephen Childs tannery, now the knitting factory of Arm- 
strong, Baker & Co. Next below was the door and sash 
factory of A. Sweet, afterwards the batting factory of ex- 
Supervisor J. C. Roby. Next was Sherrill's carding mill, 
afterwards Lane & McLean's calender and coloring factory, 
and below this stood a paper mill and sawmill. Next is the 
" Capron Factory," erected in 1814 by the " Capron Cotton 
Manufacturing Company." The heaviest stockholders were 
Seth Capron, of Whitesboro, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer and 
Asahel Seward, of Utica. It was later on owned b}'' E. B 
Sherman & Co. Since 1865 it has been owned b}'' the. "Utica 
Cotton Company," C. C. & H. M. Tabor, cotton brokers, of 141 
Pearl street, New York, proprietors. Their agent and mana- 
ger is ex-Supervisor J. C. Roby. Its capacity is 156 looms, 
employing about 130 operatives, using about 500,000 pounds 
of cotton annually, and producing about 46,000 yards of 
sheeting weekly. Next below was a sawmill, then the "Burr 
Stone" grist mill, then McLean's dye works, and then Griffith 
& Heath's bleachery, then upper mills, middle mills and lower 
mills, (old Oneida factory,} all now known as " New York 
Mills" — the largest manufacturing establishment on the Sau- 
quoit creek. The oldest of the mills was established by the 
" Oneida Manufacturing Society," in 1808, of which Hon. 



THE SAUQUOIT CREEK. 371 

Thomas R. Gould, Hon. Theodore Sill, Gen. George Doolittle 
and Jesse W. Doolittle were principal stockholders. Mr. 
Benjamin S. Walcott, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, was the 
first agent, and built the stone mill known as the " Oneida 
Factory," which went into operation in 1809, spinning the 
yarn which was put out in the neighborhood to be wove by 
the hand looms. Power looms were put in operation here in 
1818, being the first in use west of the Hudson river. March 
13, 1828, the factory was burned, but was rebuilt and en- 
larged and again in operation the next year. lu 1821, Mr. 
B. S. Walcott resigned the agency of this factory and was 
succeeded by his brother, William Walcott. B. S. Walcott, 
Benjamin Marshall and Joseph Marshall then built the " New 
York Mills," one-half mile above. In 1851, the " Oneida 
Manufacturing Society" sold out to the " New York Mills 
Company." In 1852-3, Mr. Marshall retired from the firm, 
and Mr. Walcott's son, W. D. Walcott, and Hon. Samuel 
Campbell became partners with Mr. Walcott, Sr., whose death, 
in 1862, (at the age of 76,) left the firm Walcott & Campbell, 
(W. D. Walcott and Hon. Samuel Campbell.) The upper 
stone mills were built in 1842, and the bleachery at the 
lower mill in 1860. The goods produced by this company, 
known in markec as " New York Mills" sheetings, fee, have a 
world-wide reputation, and in their manufacture furnish em- 
])loyment to about one thousand operatives, both steam and 
water-power being used. Next below on the stream is the 
old Wetmore grist mill, erected in 1788 (being the first mill 
built on the stream) by John Beardsley, the pioneer mill- 
wright and builder and member of old Amicable Lodge, No. 25, 
F. & A. M., — in 1793. Amos Wetmore and Judge White 
each had a one-fourth interest in the mill ; they also had a 
saw mill near by. From here the Sauquoit creek flows across 
the interval and empties into the Mohawk river, and forms 
at this place the northern boundary of Cosby's Manor, which 
comprised forty-two thousand acres of land, extending from 
this point down the Mohawk six miles in width (three miles 
wide on each side of the Mohawk river,) into Frankfort and 
Schuyler, and embracing the site of Utica. The patent was 
issued Januaiy 2, 173-t, by the Colony of New York to Joseph 
Worrell, William Cosby, Sheriff of Amboy, and others, and 



372 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

was signed " in obedience to the royal instruction" by William 
Cosby, "Captain General and Governor in Chief of New York, 
New Jersey, and the territories thereto depending, Vice Admi- 
ral of the same." The Wm. Cosby, Sheriff of Amboy, was a 
relative of Governor William Cosby. A quit rent of two 
shillings and six pence per hundred acres was reserved by 
the Colony, but it was never paid. As soon as the patents 
had been issued and recorded, the patentees conveyed the 
land to Governor Cosby, and thus it became Cosby's Manor. 
In 1772 it was sold for quit rents and bid off by General 
Philip Schuyler, who took the deed July 20, 1772 — executed 
by the Sheriff of Albany county — in trust for General Brad- 
street, Rutger Bleecker, John Morrin Scott, and holding one- 
quarter himself There has been much complication and liti- 
gation over the title, from time to time, ever since. 

Just before the Sauquoit enters the Mohawk, it is crossed 
by the New York Central Railroad, — formerly by a wooden 
bridge — the scene of the " Terrible Railroad Accident " on the 
morning of May 11, 1858, which rendered the name of Sauquoit 
creek historical. The Utica Observer relates: "The Cincinnati 
Express train then due at Utica at 6:20 A. M., while passing 
this bridge met the Freight and Accommodation train going 
west. Each train was on its proper track and going at full 
speed as usual. The engines of the trains passed each other safe- 
ly. One of the middle main timbers of the bridge — forty feet 
span — broke square off, being badly decayed, and the trains 
were thrown together in collision in the creek with terrible con- 
sequences. The Express was brought to a full stop, the baggage 
car scraped against the freight cars until one side of it was 
torn completely ofi', but succeeded in passing the falling 
bridge. The smoking car also cleared the bridge — leaving 
its trucks, however, in the chasm — and was laid flat across 
the track. The inside of the car was demolished by the con- 
cussion, but no one was killed or dangerously injured in this 
car. The second car went headlong into the chasm, the for- 
ward end striking the eastern stone abutment with the full 
momentum accompanying a speed of forty miles an hour. 
The forward part of the car was shattered as if by gunpowder. 
The third and fourth cars followed in, all telescoping together. 
The cars were broken and piled up on one another as high as 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS, 373 

the telegraph wires, presenting a scene such as the oldest rail- 
road men declare they never witnessed before. Nine persons 
were killed and many injured and maimed for life." The 
Sauquoit creek from the summit to this point, a distance of 
seventeen miles, descends 1,014 feet; including the eight brooks 
that " make up" the city brook and Walden brook, fifty brooks 
have poured in their waters, and first and last there has been 
one hundred and forty-one mills and factories of all descrip- 
tions in operation on the Sauquoit creek and its tributaries. 



(CHAPTER XXIX. 

REINTERMENT OF THE REMAINS OF COLONEL ISAAC PARIS. 

At a meeting of the officers of St. Paul's Church. Paris, Rev. J. 
B. Wicks, Rector, Mr. J. V. H. Scoville submitted for the consid- 
eration of the meeting, a communication from the Hon. Chas- 
W. Hutchinson, in which he stated that the remains of Colonel 
Isaac Paris had been removed from Fort Plain, and that if it 
met the views of the citizens of the town of Paris, the re- 
mains should have a final resting place with the town and 
village that bear his name, (the surviving relatives having 
assented,) and further that a suitable lot in the Parish Ceme- 
tery be set aside for that purpose. The committee in charge 
of the grounds were authorized to appropriate a suitable lot 
for receiving the remains of Colonel Paris, and a committee 
of five, consisting of Messrs. Lorenzo Rouse, J. V. H. Scoville, 
D. C. Addington, I. L. Addingtou and Charles Seymour, were 
appointed, with power to add to its number, who subsequent- 
ly met and organized for business by the appointment of Mr. 
D. C. Addington, as chairman, 2^ro tern. The following gen- 
tlemen were afterward added to the committee : Rev. J. B. 
Wicks, Rev. William Cooke, Rev. B. F. Willoughby, Frederick 
Simmons, J. E. Head, O. D. Head, Seth W. Smith, William F. 



374 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

Mould, Eli Avery, Henry Barnett, Paris ; J. M. Porter, New 
Hartford ; F. P. Drew, William S. Bartlett, Joseph S. Avery^ 
Edward North, Kirkland ; James J. Hanchett, George Peek, 
Marshall ; A. O. Osborn, O. B. Gridley, Sangeifield. Rev. 
William Cooke was made secretary, and Seth W. Smith, 
treasurer, of the committee, and Messrs. J. V. H. Scoville, D. 
C. Addington and S. W. Smith were appointed a committee 
on invitations. 

The choir of St. Paul's church was requested to unite with, 
the choir of the Congregational society in the singing, and 
Colonel I. L. Addington was chosen Marshal. 

The old bier, which was used in Paris in 1802, and which 
had carried so many of the town's people to their final resting 
place, was used on the occasion of the re-interment of the re- 
mains of Colonel Paris, in conveying them from the church 
to the grave. 

EXERCISES. 

The memorial ceremonies, which took place Friday, October 
1, 1880, at Paris, at the re-interment of the remains of Colonel 
Isaac Paris, after whom the town ot Paris was named, will 
long be remembered by the people of that town. In brief, 
the ceiemonies were in honor of the remains of a young man 
who fed the starving settlers of Paris nearly a century ago, 
and who died in 1789. As illustrating the fact that gratitude 
is a virtue which has not been obliterated by long ^^ears of 
prosperity, the event is one of which all interested may well 
feel proud. 

The weather was charming in ever}^ respect and no more 
beautiful day could have been selected, and over two thou- 
sand people were present. The Utica Citizens' Corps, under 
command of Captam Douglass, paraded with goodly numbers 
and acted as a guard of honor, led by the Old Utica band. 
They marched to Oneida Square and took the street cars pro- 
vided for them by Superintendent Schuyler. At New Hart- 
ford delegations with vehicles from Paris met the Uticans 
and conveyed them to Paris Hill. The ride over the hills 
was one of the most lovely and picturesque that can be im- 
agined. Nature is in the midst of its fall "opening," and the 
maojnificent colors and hues of the wealth of folias^e near and 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 375 

far heightened beyond description the magnificence of the 
panorama which was spread out in every direction. The 
road is in splendid condition, and few if any counted the 
miles to Paris Hill. 

The Corps reached the village about 1:30 P. M., and was 
heartily welcomed by President Rouse and the committee of 
arrangements and Colonel Addington, marshal of the day, 
with his staff. The company was formed and after a brief 
parade marched to the Paris school house in the rear of the 
church, where a collation was in wating. 

The people of St. Paul's congregation, with other hospitable 
residents of the town, supplied an abundance of the most pal- 
atable food, and it was served in good style by very agreeable 
ladies. Soldiers, musicians, orators, clergymen, guests and 
residents of the town found comfort in this school house, and 
the most kindly reception from all interested in the arrange- 
ments. 

At 2 P. M., the Old Utica band played an appropriate air 
in front of St. Paul's church, which called the assemblage 
together. 

The services were opened m the church by the rector. Rev. 
John B. Wicks, assisted by Rev. William Cooke, Rev. Charles 
H. Gardner, of Trinity church, Utica, and Rev. J. H. Lemon, 
of Clark's Mills. Rev. Mr. Gardner read the opening service, 
Rev. J. H. Lemon the creed, an i Rev. Mr. Cooke the psalter. 

At the close of the services, Rev. Mr. Wicks introduced 
Hon. Charles W. Hutchinson, Vice President of the Oneida 
Historical Society, who delivered the following address: 

HON. CHARLES W. HUTCHINSON'S ADDRESS. 

As a member of the Oneida Historical Society, when requested 
to present to you an outline of the Paris family, I could not refuse 
to embody such events, in consideration of their honorable historic 
record, as well as the immediate act the commemoration of which 
is to be perpetuated by the descendants of those early settlers who 
were the recipients of his bounty. I ask your attention to the 
prominent circumstances in which they were active participators. 
The traditional history of the family of Paris from which your 
town derived its name, records the fact that three brothers Pans 
emigrated from Strasburg in Alsace to America, about the year 
1737 One of them settled in Georgia, one in Pennsylvania and 
the third at Stone Arabia, in the town of Palatine, in the province 
of New York. Here he engaged in establishing one of the largest 
and most important stores and trading posts west of Schenectady. 



376 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

It was situated about two miles northeasterly of the Mohawk 
river at Fort Plaia. and was located upon the site now occupied 
by the farmhouse of John Gremps, and was stockaded and known 
as Fort Paris during the revolutionary war. By the courtesy of 
Hon. Samuel Earl, of Herkimer, the Oneida Historical Society 
has become possessed of one of his original written advertise- 
ments, unusually well expressed, and which is of sufficient inter- 
est to copy herewith in full : 

ADVERTISEMENT. 

"Just imported from London and to be sold by the subscriber, 
Isaac Paris, at his house in Stonearabia— A large Assortment of 
European Goods, viz : Black and Blue Persian ; Silk Damascas, 
Silk Venetian Poplin; Fine Cloth and Blue Sagathy; Chints; 
Printed Cotton; French Cambric; French Clear Lawn; British 
Sheeting. Russia Sheeting; German Ozuaburg; Black Callimanco; 
Black Silk fringed Handkerchiefs; Men's and Women's 3. thd 
white-Thread Stockings; Men's brown ditto; Men's Cotton Stock- 
ings; Men's Random Thread Stockings; Black ripp'd Worsted 
hose; Black and figured Ribbons; Tea Kettles; Men's and Wom- 
en's Buckles; Pistol Cap'd Knives; Castorbatts; powder; Shot of 
various sort; Horncombs; Yvory combs; Writing paper— Also, 
New York Rum; Loaf and Muscovadoe Sugar; and likewise a 
Large Assortment of pewter work and French Blankets with 
Sundry Articles too tedious to enumerate. Which he will sell by 
Wholesale or Retail, on very cheap and the lowest terms, in cash, 
or (if required) for credit, or any merchantable Country produce." 

ISAAC PARIS. 

We have reason to believe from records of Captain John Eisen- 
lord, who was a clerk in the store of Mr. Paris, that this adver- 
tisement was written about the year 1770. 

This young patriot, at a meeting held on the 26th day of 
August, 1775, for the election of officers for a company of militia 
for the precinct of North Germantown, was elected captain, with 
John Kayser first lieutenant, Adam Bellinger second lieutenant, 
and John Sorneth ensign. He was afterwards promoted major, 
and we shall have occasion again to speak of him. This paper 
was formerly in the possession of the late Rev. W. B. Van Ben- 
schoteii. pastor of the Reformed churches in Stone Arabia and 
Ephratah. He was also in possession of a subscription list for 
the maintenance of the fifth minister of the Stone Arabia Re- 
formed church, which was in the same handwriting of the adver- 
tisement, and is of sufficient interest to present in this connection. 
It reads as follows : 

"Whereas, this Eighth Day of Juno in the Twelfth Year of 
His Majesty's Reign, King George the Third, &c., anno Domini 
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, is unanimously 
concluded and agreed by US, the subscribed Members of the Con- 
gregation of the Reformed Church of Stonearaby, in the County 
of Tryon and Province of N. York, to call a Minister of the Gos- 
pel for our said Congregation of Stonearaby, and to keep him for 
a Yearly Salary and other Convenient and necessary maintain- 
ances as hei'eaf ter expressed : 

"PFe Therefore jointly and each of us in particular to ourselves, 
our heirs, executors and administrators, do hereby in Considera- 
tion of such Divine Service, promise and agree to pay, or cause 
to be paid unto the respective Churchwardens of our Congrega- 
tion, and their Successors, for a Yearly Salary to our Minister, 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 377 

from the Day of the Date of the Calling of such MiniRter. Yearly 
and every Year the Respective sum and sums of Money, N. York 
Currency, as is hereunto specified and to our Names annexed, to 
be paid quarterly the proportional share and due of the said 
Yearly Monej' hereby granted ; AND Concerning the other Main- 
tainances that ench of us shall and will Yearly and every Year, 
during the service of said Minister, cut and carry in due season 
Two Loads of Fii-ewood before the dwelling house of the Minister, 
and also cut and split the same to pieces, in fire length in the 
house yard of said Minister, if desired, 

"A.nd also that we jointly and severally shall and will make, 
repair, amend, keep up and hold in good order, all the necessary 
Fences and Buildings upon our Church Land, and to cut. carry 
and lay up the fence logs, and to do wilfully all other needful, 
accidentall works concerning and upon the said Land and Build- 
ings directly on Request, Dnections and Command of our said 
Churchwardens, without delay, neglect or refusal. &c., &c., &c." 

To which among the other fifty-seven subscribers, and at the 
head of the list, appears the name of Hon Isaac Paris for five 
pounds sterling, an amount more than double any other attached 
thereto. 

It may be of interest to some to state that this church was 
founded about the year 1729. and that the first missionary pastor 
was the Rev. Johan Jacob Ehle,* who remained in charge until 
the year 1742, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Johannes 
Schuyler, under whose pastorate the church was first regularly 
organized in the vear 1743. He officiated until the year 1751, 
when he was succeeded by thp Rev. John A.. Wernig, whose min- 
istry terminated in the year 1758, and his successor was the Rev. 
Abram Rosenerantz, whose wife was a sister of General Nicholas 
Herkimer. He remained in charge until the year 1770. The Rev. 
Mr. Lappius succeeded him until 1777. Rev. Mr. Kennipe was 
pastor from 1784 to 1788. The Rev. D. C. A. Peck from 1788 to 
1796, and the Rev. John David Gross from 1796 to 1802. 

The new church was erected in 1788. The old one was burned 
by the Indians October 20. 1780, as was also the church of the 
same denomination on the other side of the river, the German 
Reformed church at Fort Plain, commonly known as "The old 
Sand Hill church," and from whose burial ground the remams of 
Colonel Isaac Paris were removed. These churches were de- 
stroyed by the expedition of Sir John Johnson of tones and In- 
dians, the latter being led by Captain Joseph Brant and John, 
the Cornplanter. 

In this connection we copy the three sections of the agreement 
for the erection of the old Palatine Lutheran church (at Palatme 
Church.) 

* This Pastor, who signed him-elf John Jacob Oel. was a " Priest in the English 
Church," the tesiimonials of which are still in the possession of the fannly, wniten upon 
parchment in Latin, and read as follows: •' By these presents, U e John, by Dn 'ne l^er- 
mission Bishop of London, make iinown to all persons, that on this 12th day ot August, 
A. D 1722, at the Chapel within our Palace at Fuiham, in the County of Middlesex, «e 
the aforesaid John, Bishop as aforesaid, representing by the help of A-lmigbtv God the 
Holy Orders, have admitted and promoted John Jacob Ehle, beloved by us in Christ Jesus, 
a scholar, abundantly commended to us, as laudable in life, unblemished in morals and 
virtue, skilled in the knowledge «nd study of good letters, and ^"tiicieiuly entitled, and 
moreover examined and approved by our own examiner to the sacred order of Fresbytei 
according to the custom and rite wisely appointed and provided for in I'll* Rart% the 
English Church: and him we did, then and there virtually and canonical ly ordain Pres- 

^^iftestimony whereof, we have caused to be aflixed to these Pi-esftf .the seal ot^ our 
Episcopate according to the day and year aforesaid, and in the ii'^tll i^^^ ° ""[.f^^S^^- 
lation. (Signed) JOHN LOJNUOJN. 



378 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

"1. The bowmasters or managers of this church building till 
finished conveniently, according to the majority of our votes: 
Peter Waggoner, Andrew Reeber and Christian Nellis, Jr. 

"2. The respective sums of money hereafter of each of us 
promised shall be paid, or cause to be paid, unto the said bow- 
masters, or either of them, on demand to satisfy the costs and 
expenses of the said building. 

"3. If in case the said church building, with the appurtenances, 
could not be finished with the money hereby promised : Then we, 
and each of us, our heirs and each of our heirs shall and will 
direct and pay to the same want and use, further a certain sum 
and sums of money, as much as the substance of each will allow, 
at such a time when demanded of the said bowmasters." 

Following were thirty signatures: Peter Waggoner for fifty 
pounds; Andrew Reeber, Christian Nellis, Jr., and Hendrick W. 
Nellis for twenty- five pounds; John Eisculord, four pounds, and 
twenty five other signers, for the total sum of two hundred and 
twenty-five pounds sterling. 

The following is "a copy of the record made of the time and 
the building of the Lutheran Stone church in Palatine." Erected 
August 18, 1770. The names of the proprietors and the sums paid 
by each is as follows, to wit : 

' ' Paid. Paid. 

Peter Waggoner, . . . £100 Johannis Nellis, .... £60 

Andrew Reeber, .... 60 Henrv Nellis 60 

William Nellis, Jr., . . 60 Christian Nellis, .... 60 

Andrew Nellis, .... 60 Daniel Nellis 60 

Johanni-; Hess, .... 60 

"And William Nellis, the father of William, Andrew, Johannis 
and Henry Nellis, paid for the making of the spire, &c., to the 
steeple of said church." 

I will read a curious copy of a subscription for'the compensa- 
tion of a minister of this church, of a later date : 

"Know all men by these presents, that we the subscribers, am 
held and firmly bound unto the said Drusteis of the Lutern 
Church in Paletine for ever third Sontay to pay him twenty-five 
pounds currency yearly from the First of September in the year 
of Our lort 1797, and to Find him the third of the Firewood and 
likewise the Fansing and twenty skippels of Whead Yearly." 

Signed, forty-seven signatures for money and fifteen for "skip- 
els whead" and "loads of wood." £24 14s. in money and seventeen 
skipels of wheat and seventeen loads of wood were subscribed. 

The early history of the Reformed and Lutheran churches of 
the Mohawk valley and the colonial records bring the histories 
of such men as Hon. Isaac Paris, Hon. John Frey, Colonel Peter 
Wagner and othei's into prominence, proving their familiar inter- 
course and united action in public affairs. And also substantially 
proved by their earnest efforts and liberal contributions, their 
great interest in providing buitable structures for public religious 
worship, and the maintenance of their pastors, or dominies, as 
familiarly called. 

The following records copied from the family record of the 
Paris family is curiously quaint and is of historic interest: 

' ' I Isaac Paris and Catharine my wife were joined together in 
the Holy Bands of Matrimony by the Rev Mr Ehl Minz of the 
Gospel at Cannajoharry in the Countv of Albany and Province 
of New York North Amerika March 28. 1758. 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 379 

"Sept 26 1759— Was born my son Peter and was baptised by 
the Rev Mr Lappiug. Sponsors Mr John Thrier and his spouse. 

"Dec 25 1761 — Was born my 2d son Isaac and was baptised the 
succeeding New Years Day by the Rev Mr Rosencrantz. Spon- 
sors Mr Ludwig Feil and spouse. 

" Febry 7 1766— Was born my daughter Margaret and was bap- 
tised by the Rev Mr Rosencrantz. Sponsors Mr Conrad Lepper 
and spouse. 

"Dec 17 1767 — Was born my 3d son Francis Lewis and was 
baptised by the Rev Mr Rosencrantz Sponsors Peter Sutz and 
spouse. 

"February 2, 1773 — Was born my fourth son, John Daniel, and 
was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Daniel Gros ; sponsors, the said 
Rev. Mr. Daniel Gros and his spouse. 

"August 6, 1777 — Isaac Paris and Peter Paris, his son, were 
slain at Oriskany in an action between General Herkimer, com- 
manding the Tryon county militia, and Colonel St. Ledger, com- 
manding the British and Indians. 

"October 5, 1789— Departed this life Margaret Pans. 

"March 28, 1790— Departed this life, Isaac Paris, the younger. 

"July 14. 1796— Departed this life Francis Paris. 

"Upon the time worn marble slab now in the Paris church 
yard is plainly inscribed : ' In memory of Isaac, Margaret and, 
Francis Paris. Erected 1806. 

" October 1. 1796— +John Daniel Paris was married to Catharine 
Irving, daughter of William Irving, of the city of New York and 
have died." 

The latter family are the only known lineal descendants of Hon. 
Isaac Paris. 

The high estimation of the character of Hon. Isaac Paris was 
fully shown by the many positions of political and honorable 
trust conferred upon him by his appreciative friends and neigh- 
bors, and his whole life was animated by unswerving love and 
devotion to the interests of his adopted countrj' during the most 
critical period of our revolutionary struggle His property was 
freely given for patriotic and religious purposes, and although 
the minor details of his life are yet unwritten, we plainly read a 
most noble character, worthy the kindly appreciation and re- 
membrance of the people of the State of New York. 

The first meeting of the committee of safety for Tryon county 
was held August 27, 1774, at the house of Adam Loucks, at Stone 
Arabia. Resolutions were adopted and a committee of corres- 
pondence was chosen, with Christopher P. Yates chairman, and 
Isaac Paris, Peter Wagner, John Frey, Andrew Fink, Jr., Jacob 
Klock, Christopher W. Fox, George Ecker, Jr., Andrew Reeber, 
Daniel McDougle and Anthony Van Fechten. 

Hon. Isaac Paris, with his friend and neighbor, Lieutenant 
Colo»el Peter Wagner, of Palatine, attended the first general 
meeting of the committee, held at the house of Werner Tygert, 
in the Canajoharie district, June 2, 1775, which was situated near 
the upper Indian Castle, west of the Howadaga, now Indian Castle, 
creek, and was the former home of King Hendrick " the Dream- 
er," the Indian friend of Sir William Johnson, and afterwards 
was the residence of Captain Joseph Brant, immediately previous 
to his leaving the Mohawk valley for his last residence at Brant- 

t John Daniel Paris was the flret County Olerlt of Montgomery county in the year A. D. 
1800 Was also State Senator, years 1810, '11, '12, '1.3. 



380 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

ford, near Montreal, in Canada, and was about two miles east of 
the residence of General Herkimer. 

Mr. Paris was also elected delegate to the second and third pro- 
vincial congresses held in the city of New York in the years 1775 
-76 and also to the fourth congress and representative convention 
for years 1776-7. 

Ebenezer Cox, chairman pro tern, of the Tyron county commit- 
tee, writes November 7, 1775: "That John Moore and Isaac Paris 
were chosen delegates to the provincial congress, Mr. Moore being 
re-elected and Mr. Paris a new member." 

Another letter dated Fishkill, October 24, 1776, (10 o'clock at 
night,) from John McKesson, clerk of the provincial congress, was 
addressed to General Ten Broeck, James Duane and Isaac Paris 
and other esquires. (This was the general committee of safety 
at Albany.) 

And a letter respecting Militia Fines, signed Isaac Paris, chair- 
man, and addressed to the honorable convention of New York, at 
Fishkill, was dated "Try on county committee, January 22, 1777." 

He was also elected a member of the first State Senate held at 
Kingston, under the constitution of 1777, representing the western 
district, of the counties of Albany, Tryon and Ontario. 

The culmination of the sacrifices made by this noble and patri- 
otic man for the country of his adoption, was to leave all his 
family and interests in the charge and keeping of his second son 
Isaac, and without a demand for any official rank or position, 
with his clerk. Major John Eisenlord, and his elder son Peter 
Paris, joined the forces of General Herkimer as volunteers in 
their march to the relief of Fort Stanwix. The two former were 
killed at Oriskany, and the Hon. Isaac Paris was taken a prisoner 
by the enemy on the retreat to Oneida lake toward Canada. In 
the memoir of Moses Younglove, surgeon of General Herkimer's 
brigade, we copy from his original deposition, which is still pre- 
served in the office of the Secretary of State, the following : 

"That Isaac Paris, Esquire, was also taken the same road with- 
out receiving from them any remarkable insult, except stripping, 
until some tories came up who kicked and abused him, after 
which the savages, thinking him a notable offender, murdered 
him most barbarously." 

Of such noble and patriotic parentage, and surrounded by the 
highest examples of devotion and love of country, we now turn 
our attention to the more particular subject of the event we com- 
memorate. Colonel Isaac Paris, who at the death of his father and 
brother assumed charge of their large interests in the Mohawk 
valley. His father had purchased in the year 1738, the lands and 
stone mansion at Fort Plain, built by Lieutenant Governor George 
Clarke, which building was subsequently demolished on account 
of its reputation of being haunted, and of its materials a tannery 
was constructed by Doctor Joshua Webster and Jonathan Stick- 
ney, of that village. 

Colonel Paris removed from the former residence of his father 
in Stone Arabia, to his lands at Fort Plain about the year 1787, 
and erected a large mansion and trading post upon the rising 
ground at the southerly part of the village. Near this building 
he erected a grist mill upon the Otsquago creek. It was located 
about seventy-five feet westerly from the site of the present mill, 
near the bridge crossing the creek upon the old road from Fort 
Plain to Cooperstown, This mansion or "castle" as it is some- 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 381 

times called, was situated near the Otsquago creek, about half a 
mile westerly of the great Central Mohawk Indian castle called 
Tahragh-jo res, from which the Ko nosh i oni, or Five Nations 
sallied forth upon their predatory expedition to Canada in the 
year 1762. It was situated upon the great Indian trail to the 
Susquehanna and Pennsylvania, and following this trail down 
the creek about three miles to its junction with the Otstongo 
creek, is located the ancient fortress of the primitive Indians, up- 
on what is now known as Indian Hill, where most interesting 
relics of primitive construction have been discovered here by an- 
tiquarians and archaeologists, and the position of the entrance to 
the fortress is still easily to be observed. It has an historic fame 
among the ancient monuments of America, and for those inter- 
ested in the pre historic history is well worthy a visit. 

The house of Colonel Paris is said to have received as guests 
many persons distinguished in the historic public events of those 
times, and among them we note the Indian chief. Captain Joseph 
Brant or Thay-en dan ega, and his friend, the famous John The 
Cornplanter, or Gy-ant wah chia, whose father, John Abeel, the 
Indian trader, lived about halt a mile north westerly of the house 
of Colonel Paris, and was situated near the old fort and not far 
from the old Sand Hill (Reformed) church. Colonel Marinus 
Willett. it is said, when stationed at this fort, married, for his 
second wife, a daughter of John Abeel. He was also mentioned 
as a visitor, as was also Baron Steuben. This property of Colonel 
Isaac Paris was afterwards sold to Jost Driesback, who was a 
trumpeter at the battle of Saratoga under Burgoyne. Jost was 
the father of Herr Jacob Dreisback, the famous lion tamer, who 
was born in the Paris mansion. During the latter's "professional" 
visits to Fort Plain, he always called upon his father's family 
physician, together with others of his early friends and acquaint- 
ances. 

Jost sold the property in the year 1805 to Joseph Wagner, the 
son of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Wagner, the friend and co-adju- 
tor of Colonel Paris, and who had been associated with him in 
many public trusts, and was also with him at the battle of Oris- 
kany, accompanied by two of his sons. 

The old Paris mansion is still standing and in a fair state of 
preservation, but the grist mill was long since demolished. 

The latter was the partial source of the supply so freely and be- 
nevolently furnished to the early settlers of their town by Colonel 
Paris, and the following extract from the Annals of Oneida 
county, written by Hon. Pomroy Jones and published in 1851, is 
worthy a place in the memory of each resident of the county of 
Oneida. And although frequently heretofore published, needs 
no apology for its re-appearance in this connection. 

"The summer of 1789 was in one respect more trying to the 
settlers than its predecessors. Famine with all its horrors was 
upon them. The crops of the previous year were uisufficient for 
their own wants, and those of the daily increasing emigrants. 
The hoarded little stock of flour, and their last year's crop of po- 
tatoes were consumed, and the corn and meal were nearly ex- 
hausted, while the forthcoming crop was not matured. At planting 
time such were their straits and their care to husband their lim- 
ited supply, that the eyes of the potatoes were cut out for planting, 
and the remainder carefully preserved for the table. 

"To slaughter their few cattle would be at once to destroy their 
future prospects, and nothing but the last extremity could have 



882 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

induced them to do so. Money was almost out of the question, 
and it is believed that if they had been compelled to contribute 
their all, not enough could have been found to purchase a barrel 
of flour, even at present prices. 

' ' The forests were searched for ground nuts and leeks, the fish- 
ing rod put in requisition, and most fortunate was the hunter 
who succeeded in securing a bear or her cubs, to aid in their ex- 
tremity. Notwithstanding, children cried for food, and strong 
men put themselves on a stinted allowance, that the helpless 
might be fed. All this did not suffice ; something further must 
be done. 

"A small party was sent to Fort Plain, Montgomery county, to 
see if supplies could not there be obtained. At that place resided 
a large farmer and miller, named Isaac Paris, and to him implo- 
ringly they appealed. He responded most liberally ; and with a 
promptness which did honor to his heart, he loaded a small flat 
boat with flour and meal, and sent it up the Mohawk to the mouth 
of the Oriskany. Here it was met by a party of the settlers, tran- 
shipped into a long canoe of their own construction, and from 
thence with the aid of setting poles, paddles and ropes, this ' ' ark 
of plenty " was taken up the creek as far as the site of the bridge 
upon the Lairdsville road, and from this landing it was transport- 
ed in carts to the settlement. Language is too feeble to describe 
the rejoicings upon the arrival of this timely supply of bread 
stuffs. Clinton has never before or since witnessed such an over- 
flow of gratitude. 

"The settlers did not go to Mr. Paris as beggars. Silver and 
gold had they none, but they had industry, and strong hands and 
arms, and they agreed to pay for the meal and flour in ginseng, 
to be delivered the next fall. This root in the early days of Onei- 
da was a considerable article in commerce. Although our cattle 
have almost extirpated it from our forests, it was at that early 
day found in great abundance. It was shipped to those countries 
afflicted with the plague, where it was for a long time considered 
the best antidote against that disease. In 1792, a new town in- 
cluding Clinton, was formed from Whitestown, and in gratitude 
to their benefactor the name of Paris was given to it. The origi- 
nal town of Paris has since been divided, and the town of Kirk- 
land, including Clinton, taken from it. 

"At this time such is the veneration of the name of Paris, that 
many of the descendants of those who enjoyed his beneficence, 
although rightfully proud of the name of Kirkland, regret that 
the name of Paris had not been retained by that portion of the 
original town, including Clinton." 

Colonel Paris was undoubtedly a young man of recognized force 
of character and intellectual culture, for we find him sent by his 
constituents to the assembly as a member from Tryon county, 
when he attained the age of but 23 years, in the year 178^, and 
when that county became obsolete, April 2, 1784, was returned a 
member from Montgomery county at sessions 1784-5, and 1788. 

As heretofore noted. Colonel Paris was born on Christmas day, 
1761, and was baptized on the New Year's day following. An 
auspicious birthday for a man whose benevolent action has en- 
deai'ed his memory to the people of this town and the county in 
which it is located. His life closed in the year 1790, being but 29 
years of age, and he died leaving an honorable name, which will 
be justly handed down for the veneration and grateful memory 
of your posterity. 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 383 

"I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, from 
henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord even so saith 
the Spirit ; for they rest from their labors, and their works do 
follow them." 

On leaving the church the assemblage gathered under the 
shade of the beautiful trees in front of St. Paul's church, where 
a platform had been erected and seats provided. On the plat- 
form were the clergymen, orators, distinguished citizens of the 
town and invited guests. The assemblage in front of the 
stage was large. Many ladies graced the occasion by their 
presence, and all were well repaid for their attention b}' hear- 
ing the ver}^ interesting and admirable addresses. 

HON. LORENZO ROUSE'S ADDRESS. 

Hon. Lorenzo Rouse, one of the veteran residents of the town 
and president of the day delivered the following address of deep 
interest, speaking as follows : 

Friends and Fellow Citizens : We are assembled on this occa- 
sion, not to participate in any festival, or for the purpose of any 
jubilee. Neither are we assembled to celebrate the anniversary 
of any important era in either the political or civil history of the 
nation, or of our own locality. The occasion on which we are 
assembled partakes much more strongly of a serious, or indeed, 
of a solemn, than of a festive character. We are assembled to 
show our veneration for the memory, and our consequent respect 
for the remains of one who furnished to the pioneer settlers of 
the old town of Paris, the most tangible evidence of his exalted 
character, not only for humanity of feeling, but for genuine 
Christian charity and benevolence, by ministering to their neces- 
sities in the time of their sorest need. 

Let us, before proceeding further, premise bj^ saying that we 
disclaim any intention of giving any sectarian or denominational 
religious aspect to our proceedings on this occasion. On the con- 
trary we have studiously sought to avoid so doing, for we do not 
understand that Isaac Paris, in his religious preferences, could be 
claimed as affiliating very closely with any one of the several 
religious denominations, originally established, or now having 
organization within the limits of the old town which adopted his 
name. Being of German descent, he is understood to have aflfili- 
iated more directly with a majority of the German emigrants 
and their descendants living in his vicinity, at Fort Plain. But, 
judging from his character. we believe that he would have prefer- 
red that some sort of religious exercises should be had on any and 
every occasion connected with his obsequies. 

Neither let it for a moment be supposed that we have any polit- 
ical object in view, for, in this regard, we only know that Isaac 
Paris was a true patriot, and of a patriotic race, for his father 
and elder brother both laid down their lives fighting for the liber- 
ties of their country, in 1777. 
It is not the purpose of your speaker, on this occasion, to aim 



384 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

at any lofty flights of eloquence, nor to attempt any high eulo- 
gism upon the character and merits of him whose remains we are 
met to reinter ; nor even to give a sketch of his biography, except 
incidentally, for one better prepared has already favored us in 
that regard. But we shall endeavor to narrate to you a brief, 
plain and simple statement of facts connected with the early his- 
tory of the old town of Paris, and to show the connection that 
Colonel Paris had with that early history — a statement of facts 
which, from their frequent reiteration, may, perchance, be con- 
sidered by some as having become somewhat hackneyed and 
stale, but by others as being eminently worthy to be kept in last- 
ing r'emembi'ance by frequent repetition. It is a well-established 
fact that the first permanent white settlement in Oneida county 
was commenced at Whitestown in the early summer of 1784, by 
Judge Hugh White and his five sons, Daniel C. , Joseph, Hugh, 
Ansel and Philo. He had also three daughters— Rachel, Aurelia 
and Polly. We will not stop to inquire why he, a man fifty-one 
years of age, at an age when the ardor and restlessness of youth 
may be supposed to have in some degree subsided — why he should 
decide to emigrate, with his young family, from old Middletown, 
on the Connecticut river, so immediately after the close of the 
revolutionary war, and locate in the unbroken wilderness of this 
far west, so far from any white settlement and in such close 
proximity to the untutored and dreaded Indians, many of whom 
had recently been so hostile. It seems to us passing strange. 
SuflBce it for us to know that he came, and that he effected a per- 
manent settlement, and becoming the owner of a tract of fifteen 
hundred acres of most valuable land, he gave his name to a town, 
which in its extent of territory exceeded that of the present entire 
county of Oneida; including, among the rest, the whole of what 
subsequently became the old town of Paris, and extending almost 
indefinitely to the west. Indeed, all the country now designated 
as Central New York was for many years known at the east as 
the "Whitestown country," and was supposed to be the "El-do- 
rado" of the west, as the "Genesee country" afterwards was 
deemed the Ultima thu^e, all west of that being the Terra incog- 
nita, or the unknown land. The fame of the "Whitestown 
country" soon reached the east, and in 1785 the first clearing to 
the extent of half an acre of land, was made near the foot of what 
is now Genesee street, Utica. and in 1786 that settlement con- 
tained three log houses. In the following year, 1787, Moses Foot 
and his three sons, Bronson, Ira and Luther, with his son-in law, 
Barnabas Pond, and his friends, James Bronson, Luther Blodgett 
and Levi Sherman, commenced a settlement near the Oriskany 
creek where the village of Clinton now stands. This was the 
first settlement made m the territory which originally adopted 
the name of the Town of Paris. A document which was executed 
soon after this settlement was begun, shows that the place was at 
first designated as "Coxeborough, in Montgomery county and 
State of New York." It was, of course, in Whitestown at that 
time, although the name of the town does not appear in the docu- 
ment. In the following year, 1788. a settlement was commenced 
in New Hartford, by Jedediah Sanger and others, and during the 
same season, the settlement at Coxeborough, now Clinton, was 
increased by the addition of about twenty families. 

Early in the spring of 1789 the first settlement of what is now 
the town of Paris was commenced, about one mile northeasterly 
from where we are now assembled, by Captain Royce, on the 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 385 

farm now owned by Colonel I. L. Addington. He was followed, 
about the 20th of March of the same season, by Benjamin Barnes' 
Benjamin Barnes, Jr. and John Humaston. This was the com- 
mencement of what was known as the "South Settlement." In 
the fall of the same year, Phineas Kellogg came on and built a 
log house, further to the east, in the vicinity of Sauquoit, or Sa- 
dagh-qua da, as the Indians then called it. In March. 1790. John 
Butler. Sylvester Butler, Asa Shepard and Joseph Plumb came 
on and located in the same vicinity. Others followed in 1791, 
and soon after the tide of immigration seemed to turn toward 
the "Brothertown tract," now in the town of Marshall, and being 
the southwestern portion of the old town of Paris. The first set- 
tler, in what was then callfd "Hanover Settlement," now in the 
town of Marshall, was David Barton, soon followed by Warren 
Williams, Rev. Hezekiah Eastman, Stephen Barrett, Levi Barker, 
Captain Simon Hubbard, and the three brothers, Abel. Adam and 
Aaron Simmons. The first white child born in what is now 
known as the town of Marshall, was Lester Barker, commonly 
known as Colonel Barker, who afterwards removed to Clinton, 
where he died. The only instance I have been able to find in 
which a son of one of these original settlers of the old town of 
Paris has continued to reside on the same premises where his 
father first located, in the latter part of the last century, (thus 
connecting the past with the present,) is that of Marinus Hubbard, 
living on the road to Waterville, about midway from this place, 
now at the age of eighty-six, and son of the Captain Simon Hub- 
bard heretofore mentioned as one of our first settlers. 

We have thus reviewed, as succinctly as we were able, the his- 
tory of the first settlement of the old town of Paris. Let us now 
explain, as briefly as may be practicable, the connection which 
Colonel Isaac Paris had with that history, and why we meet, on 
this occasion, to do honor to his memory. The first pioneers in 
the town, consisting, as we have seen, of eight families, had 
enough to do, in the then unbroken wilderness, to provide shelter 
for their families, and the necessary food to sustain life, without 
accumulating any great surplus for the future. They eked out 
their subsistence by occasional resorts to the forest and the stream, 
but added little to any permanent store. The influx of emigra- 
tion in 1788, as we have seen, quadrupled the population, and 
their united exertions were insufficient to remove the heavily- 
timbered forests, clear the land and prepare it in season to culti- 
vate crops sufficient to supply food for all. True, an occasional 
meal of fish assisted, and now and then a rich bearsteak was con- 
sidered as a God-send. But they found the latter was fully over- 
balanced by the extreme fondness of the bears for green corn and 
young pigs, thus too often blasting their anticipations. Although 
they laid in a good supply of ground nuts and leeks from the 
forest, they found their scanty stores rapidly diminishing, so that 
when planting time came in the spring of 1789, they carefully cut 
out the eyes of the potatoes for planting, thus reserving the bulk 
of the tubers for food. For breadstuff they were obliged to resort 
to the primitive Indian method of using the hominy block, or if 
fine meal was wanted, to back the grist seven miles through the 
forest to the nearest mill, which had just been erected at Whites- 
town. But soon their supply of corn failed them, and they could 
not wait for their growing crops to mature. The children began 
to cry for bread, and something must be done to avert starvation. 
A deputation was accordingly appointed to go, on foot, to the 



3S6 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS, 

German Flats, now in Herkimer county, which although it had 
heen much longer settled, had suffered greatly during the revolu- 
tionary war. The deputation had no money to offer, and could 
only pledge their credit for the future payment. The cautious 
German settlers, although sympathizing in their distress, did not 
deem the security sufficient from those whom they looked upon 
with suspicion as only a parcel of "treacherous Yankees." De- 
spondent in feeling at their want of success, where they most 
hoped for it, the deputation passed on to Fort Plain, on the oppo- 
site side of the river, where it would seem that Providence direct- 
ed them" to a young man. then only twenty-eight years of age, 
variously termed a farmer, a miller, and a merchant, but as he 
was a man of means, he probably combined all of those branches 
of business. To him they told their sorrowful tale, and his kind 
heart at once melted. He answered them that they must have 
help. But they, recollecting their recent repulse, frankly told 
him, "Silver and gold we have none, but such as we have we 
will give unto thee — when we can get it." His prompt answer 
was, ' ' No matter about the pay. Your women and childi*en must 
not be permitted to starve. Take what you need to feed them, 
and if, at any time in the future, you are able to pay for it, it will 
be well. If you are never able it will also be well, but your fam- 
ilies must not be allowed to starve." With the greatest dispatch 
he proceeded to load a batteau, or flat boat, with flour, meal, and 
meat, for the needy settlers, and with light hearts and joyous 
feelings, the deputation eagerly assisted, with the use of setting 
poles, in propelling the boat up the stream to the mouth of the 
Oriskany creek, where one of their number had already notified 
the settlers to meet them with canoes of their own construction, 
and thus they conveyed the provisions up to a point near where 
the Clinton factory now stands, from whence they were removed 
to the settlement with an ox team, and distributed among the 
hungrj^ people. It should be mentioned that it was subsequently 
agreed and insisted upon by the settlers that the debt for the pro- 
visions might and should be paid in the root of the wild ginseng, 
which at that early day grew abundantly in the forests, and 
which, from its supposed rare medicinal virtues, was in great 
demand for exportation to European ports not only, but even to 
China, where it was considered more valuable than gold. The 
women and children of the settlement at once set themselves to 
work to scour the forest and search with avidity for the precious 
root, and to their credit be it said, that within a short time a suf- 
ficient quantity of it was gathered to liquidate the entire debt. 

Within one short year thereafter, the settlers were pained to 
hear that their kind benefactor had been removed from earth, 
and called to his last accounting of his stewardship. This was in 
the year 1790, at his early age of twenty-nine years. But though 
dead he was not forgotten by those whom he had so kindly be- 
friended. Two years after, in 1792, the settlement had been so 
much increased that a separate town organization was applied for 
and granted, embracing within its limits all of the southern por- 
tion of Whitestown. 

When the citizens came together to consult and agree on a 
name for their new township, it was found that they were sub- 
stantially unanimous in their preference for the name of their 
deceased benefactor, and Paris became the name of the new or- 
ganization. Let it be ever perpetuated ! I have found that many 
persons, outside of the place, err greatly a»s to the origin of the 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 387 

name, supposing it to have been adopted from that of the chief 
city of France. This mistake is an innocent one for him who 
"has observed how prone are the citizens of our different localities 
to endeavor to gain a sort of fictitious importance for those local- 
ities, by giving to them either high sounding classical names, or 
the more modern names of foreign cities or places of importance. 
Thus we have gained a modern Troy, an Ilion, a Utica, a Rome, 
a Syracuse, and an Ithaca. Thus we have also a New England, 
a New Scotland, a New York, a New London, a New Bei-lin, a 
New Brunswick, a New Hamburg and a New Lisbon, besides a 
multitude of others, which omit the prefix. But the earlv settlers 
•of the old town of Paris, and their descendants, seem to have act- 
ed on a different principle in their selection of names for their 
several localities, to wit, a laudable desire to perpetuate the name 
of some worthy individual. Thus Paris and Kirkland and Mar- 
shall gained their names, with Whitestown on the north and San- 
gerfield on the south. Thus Hamilton College gained its name 
from the eminent statesman who was among its first trustees and 
patrons. Thus Clinton gained its name from Governor George 
Clinton, who, at one time, in company with General George 
Washington, owned real estate in sight of the village and in its 
immediate vicinity. Thus, while Kirkland has her Clinton and 
her Franklin, Paris has her ClayvilJe and her Cassville, Marshall 
has her Deansville and her Dicksville. 

It may very naturally be asked, why have the remains of Colo- 
nel Isaac Paris been exhumed ? and why are they brought hither 
for reuiterment ? To these questions we reply ; to the first, that 
at the time of his death, less care and attention and forethought 
was given to the selection of burial places while the coimtry was 
new, than there is at present. In consequence new cemeteries 
have often been located. In process of time, it seemed necessary 
to renew the place of burial at Fort Plain where he and others of 
his day were buried. It was deemed desirable, therefore, that 
the remains buried there should be removed to some other place 
lest all vestiges of their place of deposit should become obliterated 
and forgotten. The grave of Isaac Paris was found among the 
number. The idea occurred to some thoughtful persons that it 
would be a fitting thing to offer those remains to the citizens of 
Paris, to be deposited within the limits of the town which bears 
his name. His only surviving kindred consenting, the offer was 
accepted, and the act of re-burial is now about to be consummated. 
But why bury them hei-e ? In answer we say, it seemed desirable 
that the place of deposit should be at some point as near as prac- 
ticable to the center of the old town to which his name was ori- 
ginally given. It seemed fitting that his i-emains should be de- 
posited within the limits of the town which still bears, and in all 
human probability will continue to bear his name. It seemed 
fitting that their final resting place should be in the village which 
aids in perpetuating his memory, not only by its own name, but 
by the name which its post office has always borne. The suffix, 
Hill, being no part of the proper name, but merely a surplusage, 
added by outsiders, to distinguish between the village and the 
town. As to why we have selected a particular location, we an- 
swer, that it appeared |to the committee having the matter in 
charge to be the most eligible one obtainable. Had Colonel Paris 
been the donor of the public green to the public, then, perhaps, 
there might have been a sort of propriety in depositing his re- 
mains on that ground. But that ground was given to the public 



388 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

by another and for a specific purpose, by the terms of the convey- 
ance and to appropriate it, or any portion of it, to cemetery pur- 
poses might, perchance, vitiate the title, of the validity of which 
we do not feel called upon now to speak. From what we can 
learn of Colonel Paris, we feel assured that his preference would 
have been that his remains should be deposited in grounds spe- 
cially set apart and consecrated for burial purposes, where they 
would be under the constant care of some organized corporation, 
and not deposited on common or public grounds, under the spe- 
cial charge of nobody in particular, and liable to be again dis- 
turbed in the future. With the subject of a monument to the 
deceased, its fashion or its cost, or the place ot its location, the 
committee claims no special powers, its duties ceasing with the in- 
terment. But let us hope that those honored remains will ever 
hereafter be permitted to rest in peace, until the last great trum- 
pet shall sound, and until the archangel shall appear, and pro- 
claim that Time shall be no more, and until the earth and the 
sea shall be required to yield up their dead. 

ADDRESS BY PROF. EDWARD NORTH. 

Professor Edward North, of Hamilton College, was introduced 
and spoke as follows : 

The true American rejoices in whatsoever tends to dethrone the 
old world's heresy, that republican communities are ungrateful. 
It satisfies our idea of the fitness of things and our sense of grati- 
tude that the bones of Isaac Paris should finally rest in the soil 
of Paris Hill. So it satisfied the Greek idea of national gratitude 
that the bones of Theseus, their hero king, should be welcomed 
home from Scyros with a grand dramatic festival, and be reburied 
in the heart of Athens, that 

" Dear city of man without master or lord. 
Fair foitress and fcstreas of sons born free, 
A wonder enthroned on the hills and the sea." 

It is true, as has been already stated, that the timely supplies 
sent by Isaac Paris ninety -one years ago, were received by pio- 
neers who had built their log cabins in the valley six miles below,, 
near the banks of the Oriskany. Could the votes of these pio- 
neers of Clinton be taken to day, with the votes of their descend- 
ants— the Benedicts, the Blanchards, the Blodgets, the Brock- 
ways, the Bristols, the Bronsons, the Bulleins, the Butlers, the 
Carpenters, the Casseteys, the Cooks, the Curtises, the Deweys, 
the Foots, the Gleasons, the Gridleys, the Hubbards, the Kirk- 
lands, the Langfords, the Marshes, the Millards, the Nortons, the 
Ponds, the Sandfords, the Shermans, the Stebbinses, the Tuttles 
— could the voices of these numerous living and far scattered de- 
scendants be telephoned to us this afternoon, it need not be doubt- 
ed they would decide that the bones of Isaac Paris should sleep 
with those who have loyally and gratefully clung to the name of 
their early benefactor. Let him sleep, they might say, where his 
monument can look down upon the valley and the Oriskany, 
even as 

"The mountains look on Marathon, 
And Marathon looks on the sea." 

The town of Kirkland is not grasping, and not unreasonable. 
It had another benefactor in the far-seeing, great-hearted mis- 
sionary who created a larger local indebtedness, and placed his 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 389 

name with those the world will not willingly let die, by planting 
a college fortress for " the kingdom of the Blessed Redeemer" on 
the opposite hillside. This child of prayer and faith has proved 
to be not only a fountain of intelligence and culture, but a mag- 
net for drawing in good families and perennial income from sur- 
rounding counties. Whatever of distinction and interest Paris 
Hill may gain from the historic grave that is covered to-day, and 
the historic monument that ought to attract many pilgrims in 
future years, the town of Kirkland will make no envious or un- 
fraternal complaint. In fact, Kirkland has taken time by the 
forelock and achieved its satisfaction in advance, through its 
inveterate habit of recruiting its population from the best blood 
of Paris Hill. Like many other rural districts, to which the 
latest census is a rhymeless elegy, Paris Hill has been a nutrix 
leonujn, a prolific nursery of heroes for the battles of business, of 
enterprise, and professional skill. 

Not content with seeing the conflicts at a safe distance, after 
buckling their armor on, the sons of Paris Hill have slipped down 
into the waiting valleys, by a law of gravitation for which the 
town of Kirkland can not be held accountable. No sooner was 
Kirkland organized into a separate township than it began to 
receive volunteer recruits from its eastern neighborhood. Henry 
McNiel and Theophilus Steele— both men of the Puritan type and 
granite integrity — set an example that was afterwards followed 
by others equally worthy. Other villages and distant cities have 
had stout reinforcements from the same prolific mother. The 
good names of Handy and Head and Bartlett have taught the 
world how wealth honestly won can be wisely and generously 
used. Yes, we of the Oriskany valley and the hillside beyond 
are deeply in debt to Paris Hill We would return thanks for 
the morning sunlight, both physical and social, that comes to us 
from our unselfish neighbor. Were we only Greeks, we might 
easily coax our Homer into singing "of rosy fingered Aurora, 
daughter of Paris Hill." The thousands of jocund daybreaks 
that have greeted us from our near eastern horizon, the cherished 
memories that run to and fro along "the old Line of Property," 
the hallowed graves of our common ancestry, are ties of sympa- 
thy "stronger than hooks of steel," and we heartily rejoice in the 
new bond that henceforth holds us in still closer attachment and 
fellowship. . ^ ^. ^, 

We are not here this Friday afternoon to receive babbatn 
instruction, but there is a sermon for us, full of tenderest teach- 
ing, in the simple act of generosity and trust that makes the 
bones of Isaac Paris a priceless deposit in the soil ennobled by his 
name. This sermon, soon to be a century old, repeats the voice 
of that older, diviner sermon on the mount, "Blessed are the 
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The name of Isaac Pans 
comes to us as that of a square-dealing, kindly farmer and miller, 
whose father and brother had given their lives to their country 
on the Oriskany battlefield. To him the Oriskany was another 
Acheron, "a woeful river." Possibly that cry of distress from 
dwellers on the banks of the Oriskany, so soon after his fathers 
and brother's death, came to him like a voice from eternity, with 
a pathos even deeper than that one touch of nature that makes 
the whole world kin. Call it a shrewd business transaction if 
you will, an exchange of meal for ginseng; it was the shrewdness 
of one who lends to the Lord, by lending without any earthly 
security to distant suffering strangers. 



390 HISTORY THE OF TOWN OF PARIS. 

Isaac Paris was not an ambitious man, yet he is laureled to-day 
with spontaneous homage, which thousands have selfishly toiled 
for and died without winning. It is not true, that the good men 
do "is oft interred with their bones. " God never permits that a 
good deed or a kind word should be wasted. On this golden 
afternoon in October, when the "valleys are covered over with 
corn and the paths drop fatness," we are all conscious of having 
larger, warmer hearts to-day, because we feel the sweet, soft sun- 
shine of a remembei-ed charity that brought joy to our starving 
pioneers ninety-one years ago. 

When the time comes to erect a monument over the grave of 
Isaac Paris- whether it be this year, or next year, or in 1889, 
there will lae cheerful contributions from hill top and valley. And 
when the monument is ready for its inscription, what better can 
be found, outside of Holy Writ, than to copy from England's 
greatest poet : 

"Ttie quality of mercy is not strained. 
It falleth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest. 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." 

One good deed often gives inspiration for another. After this 
day's memorial has been completed, an effort should be made 
to find the lost grave of Reverend Samson Occom, whose fame 
as a fervid Indian preacher lives in the early history and tradi- 
tions of Oneida county. It is recorded that in 1786. one year be- 
fore the first white emigrants settled in Clinton, Samson Occom, 
like another Moses, led out a colonj^ of Indians from New Eng- 
land and Long Island, and found a new home for them on the 
banks of the Oriskany. within what is now the town of Marshall. 
Here they lived for half a century or more, until thej^ were trans- 
ferred to Green Bay, under the direction of Thomas Dean, of 
Deans%nlle. 

The story of Samson Occom's life has never been fully written. 
Born near Norwich, Conn., in 1723, educated in Dr. Wheelock's 
Indian school in New Lebanon, Conn., he was ordained as a 
preacher by the presbytery of Suffolk, Long Island, in 1759. He- 
spent eighteen months in England, where he preached over three 
hundred sermons, and collected £10.000 for the schooling of 
American Indians. King George III. was so delighted with one 
of the Indian orator's sermons, that he gave him a library and a 
gold-headed cane. He was a poet, as well as an oratoi-, and a 
leader. One of his hymns, to be found in Hastings' Church Mel- 
odies, 

"Awaked by Sinai's awful sound," 

is often sung by church choirs, without a thought of its Indian 
origin. 

I am indebted to a grandson of one of Clinton's pioneers. Dr. 
Asahel Norton Brockway, of New York, for a letter which Rev. 
Samson Occom sent home to his two daughters while he was in 
England. It seems to be an Indian father's playful effort to 
interest a pair of little girls : 

" My dear Mary and Esther; 

Perhaps yon may q lery whether I am well. I came from home well, was by the way 
well, got oyer well, am received at London well, and am treated extremely well— yea, I 
am caressed too well And do vou pray that 1 may be well, and that I may do well, and 
in time return home well. And I hopj you are well, and wi=h you well, and as I think, 
you began well, so keep on well, that you may end well, and then all will be well. And 
so farewell. Samson Occom." 

The style of this letter ought not to be severely criticised. It 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 391 

was not written for publication or for a memorial service. It is a 
noticeable fact that Samson Occom died in 1792, the year in which 
the township of Paris was taken from Whitestown and organized 
under its present name. The place of his burial cannot now be 
told. Rev. A. D. Gridley's history of Kirkland states that Sam- 
son Occom died in Stockbridge in July, 1792, but says nothing of 
the place of burial. Judge Jones has reasons for thinking that 
he died and was buried in the Indian orchard in Vernon, on land 
formerly owned by Hendrick Smith, a half-civilized Indian who 
removed to Green Bay. 

Others remembering how closely his life was linked with the 
Brothertown Indians, suppose that he sleeps in Deansville, in one 
of those unmarked and neglected Indian graves which ' ' implore 
the passing tribute of a sigh." There has been sad neglect some- 
where. Other researches remain for Ex-Mayor Hutchinson and 
the Oneida Historical Society. Schenandoa has his monument 
near to that of his Christian teacher in the college cemetery, and 
it is to be hoped that the enthusiasm so apparent in this day's 
exercises, will keep itself alive and at work, until a permanent 
inscription, in granite or marble, rescues from dumb f orgetf ulness 
not only the last resting place of Isaac Paris, but also that of his 
companion in our county's early history. Rev. Samson Occom. 



HON. THEODORE W. DWIGHT S ADDRESS. 

Hon. Theodore W. Dwight. of Columbia College Law School, 
was introduced and spoke as follows: 

Whitestown, Kirkland, Clinton, Hamilton, and Paris! These 
are some of the names that characterize the subduing and civil- 
izing influence of man in one of the finest agricultural regions in 
the world. The early settlers in this region had the judgment 
and good sense permanently to stamp these picturesque hills and 
smiling valleys with the names of the most eminent citizens of 
their own locality and State. They did not go to Africa, search- 
ing in its broad morasses for a buried Utica ; they did not look to 
Italy to borrow ludicrously the names of it> Rome and Verona, 
nor delve in Sicily for an extinct Syracuse. Instead of all this, 
they chose their representative men, each showing forth in his 
own special way the vigor and beauty of the highest type of their 
life ; Kirkland symbolizing their aggressive faith and civilizing 
zeal, Clinton and Hamilton their assured hope for the stability 
of their political institutions and their coming glory. White their 
force as leading the great army of pioneers still moving in end- 
less procession, and Paris representing their Christian charity. 
Thus are we championed ; there still abideth among us faith, hope 
and charity. Kirkland was indeed a wonderful man, and made 
a great impression on his contemporaries. Governor Livingston, 
of New Jersey, said of him in a public letter in 1768, while Kirk- 
land was yet a young man, "that for three years past with inde- 
fatigable mdustry and sometimes at the peril of his life, he has 
been propagating the Christian faith among the tribes of the Six 
Nations." We all know how in later life his views widened so as 
to embrace the education and culture of our entire population. 
Of Paris. I know but little. I imagine him to have been an ear- 
lier Peter Cooper, with flowing locks and benevolent countenance 
and guileless disposition, successful as a merchant and at the 



892 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

same time with open hand distributing his gains for the pubhc 
good. His act of kindness that we celebrate to-day, though like 
a farthing light in the great blaze of charity that now illuminates 
the world, is of a warm and penetrating beam. 

" How far this little candle throws his beamsl 
So Bhines a good deed in a naughty world." 

But good Mr. Paris did not intend to pauperize the objects of his 
benevolence. He knew that a dependence by them on the gifts 
of the charitable would be the ruin of all manly and honest en- 
deavor. Accordingly, he made them stipulate that they should 
pay him the next year in ginseng root, and I presume he received 
his compensation in overflowing measure. 

A lesson can be learned from the traffic in this root, and from 
its influence on the Indians and the early settlers. Jonathan 
Edwards, the elder, the great theologian, who essayed to unravel 
the mysteries of the human will and to analyze and combine the 
persons of the Divine Trinity, had another and more lovable side 
to his character. He was a zealous missionary to the Indian 
tribes, and though laboring among the Stockbridge Indians in 
Massachusetts, he knew well what affected them all and their 
interests in this part of the country. He particularly deprecated 
the effect of the search for "ginseng" upon the Six Nations. 
Writing in 1752, he says: "Some things have happened which 
have much prejudiced the cause of religion among the Indians, 
and among other things the discovery of the famous tartarian 
root called 'ginseng,' which was found in our woods last summer 
and is since found in the woods in many of these western parts of 
New England and in the country of the Six Nations. The trad- 
ers in Albany have been eager to purchase all they could of this 
root to send to England, where they make great profit by it. 
This has occasioned our Indians of all sorts, young and old, to 
spend abundance of time in wandering about the woods and 
sometimes to a great distance, in the neglect of public worship 
and of their husbandry and also in going much to Albany to sell 
their roots, {which proves worse to them than their going into the 
ivoods,) where they are always much in the way of temptation 
and drunkenness, especially when they have money in their 
pockets." It is a relief to know that the early Albanians allowed 
no penniless Indians to get drunk. Edwards adds: "The conse- 
quence has been that many of them have laid out their money 
which they have got for their roots of ginseng for rum, where- 
with they have intoxicated themselves. " Other sources of inform- 
ation disclose that the Brothertown Indians united with the 
Oneidas in the search for ginseng, collecting one thousand bushels 
annually at two dollars per bushel, and that the harvest was 
commonly followed by quarrelling and sometimes by murder, 
particularly among the Oneidas. All of these results could not 
have happened to the Indians without affecting the white men. 
May not the "neglect of husbandry," to which Edwards alludes 
in 1752, have been to a certain extent the cause of the famine 
which Mr. Paris relieved? The search for ginseng clearly pro- 
duced a powerful effect on the habits of the people, an effect 
which long lingered in these valleys. I can well remember as a 
boy in Kirkland that this root was pointed out to me, and its 
great commercial value extolled. Though purchased by English 
traders, it was solely used by the Chinese, who make some sev- 
enty useless and probably pernicious preparations from it. The 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 393 

ginseng in these valleys is now forgotten, being displaced by the 
hop, the grape vine and the corn. The American people for the 
most part have lost all taste for irregular industry, and only tol- 
erate such work as mining when its operations are guided by the 
hand of science. In the early days of our history the missiona- 
ries steadily set their faces against intermittent labor. They also 
did not allow their parishioners to mix rum with their religion, 
but required them to accept it free from every sort of adultera- 
tion. The good effect of these prmciples are still visible through- 
out our society. 

The people who founded our local institutions were from the 
beginning friends of order and desired to lay the social founda- 
tions in a strong and lasting manner. These qualities were exhib- 
ited in a marked way in the first settlement of a minister. Rev. 
Dan Bradley, in 1792, in Whitestown, once embracing the town 
of Paris. This clergyman was settled over the Whitestown 
church by proxy or representation, a committee having proceeded 
to Hampden, Conn., to act for the congregation and to listen to 
an excellent installation sermon from Jonathan Edwards, the 
younger, subsequently President of Union College, but then the 
pastor of a church at New Haven. He compliments them as the 
first of all that new country who have formed themselves into a 
regular church and society. With prophetic vision he cries out 
that very few ministers in the United States are placed in a sphere 
of so great usefulness as their pastor — few called to such strenuous 
exertions. He exhorts them to liberality, strict discipline and to 
an intense interest in a sound education for their children. It 
would be interesting to know who composed the committee to 
take this long and tiresome journey, simply to comply with an 
accustomed form and for due observance of seemly church order. 
After all, it matters not, for a like spirit has pervaded the whole 
region from the beginning until now. A careful observer wrote 
about seventy years ago of the inhabitants ot the town of Paris 
in this wise: *'The inhabitants are industrious, sober, orderly 
and prosperous." On this love of order they have built all their 
institutions, civil and religious. There is a marked steadiness in 
this our civilization, only one change being visible, that of onward 
movement and regular progress. 

Citizens of Paris ! You have done well to institute this celebra- 
tion in honor of the man who set so fruitful an example to us all. 
True, it is not likely that any one will need to be stimulated by 
his conduct to save his immediate neighbors from famine, our 
resources being so varied and manifold. But neighborhood is 
now very large, and our feliowmen, if not our fellow citizens, 
need succor in a variety of forms. The little boat drawn pain- 
fully up the scantily flowing Oriskany by willing hands, is the 
forerunner of mighty ships freighted with grain and other articles 
of food, while the Oriskany itself has expanded into the Shannon, 
the Danube and the Ganges, with famishing men within their 
shores stretching out their hands to receive gratuitously our life- 
sustaining products Charity has been dignified by becoming a 
national act. Differences in religious creeds have faded out in 
the mellow and uniform glow of an all-pervading philanthropy. 
We cannot credit all this to Mr. Paris. Still he performed his 
part well in the beneficent work of life, and we may safely imi- 
tate him. We cannot all follow closely after great men, but we 
can all walk abreast with charitable men. Each of us can join the 
white-robed procession, though he have at command only the two 



394 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

mites that make a farthing. You have therefore done well in 
recalling Mr. Paris to the memory of the busy men of our time, 
in setting the seal of your approbation upon his act, in placing 
him high on the list of your local worthies and in making a beau- 
tiful and simple charitable deed a matter of public commemora- 
tion. The citizens of Oneida county are to be congratulated on 
their growing interest in their local history. They are also for- 
tunate in the fact that so many noble and eminent men .have 
lived and worked among them who have performed acts and 
possessed characters worthy to be kept in perpetual remem- 
brance. 

It was the policy of the earlier nations to build sepulchral mon- 
uments along frequented avenues. The dead thronged the streets 
almost as when alive. The living could not depart from home 
without looking into the marble faces of the dead and recalling 
their virtues. 

We in the United States have pursued a widely different course. 
Our sepulchral memorials are scattered far apart on hills, in val- 
leys and sequestered nooks, awaiting the visit of the admirer, the 
antiquarian, or the passing traveler. Thus it happens that Kirk- 
land is at rest upon one of these hills, Paris upon another, while 
White sleeps in the valley which he was the first to explore. 
Will we not at some future day combine these thoughts by erect- 
ing in the principal city of our county fit statues as memorials of 
the men to whom we owe so much, each exemplifying the special 
trait of character or mode of action which made him useful to his 
generation and makes him famous with posterity? 

ADDRESS OF SAMUEL EARL. 

Samuel Earl, of Herkimer, was then introduced and spoke sub- 
stantially as follows : 

Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens of the town of Paris : I came 
here as one of the invited guests, and to be a spectator of what 
was to be done, and to hear what was to be said on this interest- 
ing occasion. It has been a great pleasure to me to listen to what 
has been said by the distinguished gentlemen who have preceded 
me. Their eloquent words I shall long remember, and I am glad 
that I have been permitted to be here. I have heard much I 
never knew before, of the history of Isaac Paris, the noble bene- 
factor of the pioneer settlers of your town. I do not know why 
I was called upon on this occasion to address you, unless it is be- 
cause I am an old resident of Herkimer county, to which the 
town of Paris and the surrounding territory within view of this 
elevated place, once belonged, and for that reason I am supposed 
to know something of the history which this occasion calls forth. 
But this is a mistake. What I now know on that subject I have 
learned here to-day, and with you I take a pride in commemo- 
rating the virtues and noble acts of Isaac Paris, whose memory 
is preserved in the name of your town. You have been told that 
the first settlers of this town were famine stricken ; that to save 
their lives the husbands and fathers of the families here started 
out in pursuit of food, passing by the German settlement on the 
Mohawk river at Herkimer, and going to Fort Plain, where they 
made their necessities known, and where their wants were gener- 
ously supplied by Isaac Paris, and thus the famine here was 
stayed. It must not be supposed that because the wants of the 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. 395 

people here were not supplied bv the Germans at Herkimer that 
it was from any want of feeling or inhumanity towards them. 
The truth is the settlement of the German Flats, as it was 
called, was then desperately poor. The inhabitants there had 
just gone through the revolutionary war, and they came out poor, 
destitute as to everything except their naked lands, and food 
with them was scarce. They had no surplus. The German set- 
tlers there suffered all the hardships and trials which their ex- 
posed situation could bring on a people thus situated, during a 
merciless frontier war with savages. Many of the inhabitants 
were killed, and many widows and orphans were made, and those 
had to be provided for. The war ended in 1783, but Indian dep- 
redations continued for several years after, so that the Germans 
could not cultivate their lands so as to have a surplus on hand ; 
and they had none at the time the committee from the starving 
people of this town called for assistance. I am satisfied that the 
relief which was so generously afforded by Isaac Paris would not 
have been refused by the Germans of Herkimer if it had been in 
their power to bestow it. 

But the committee had not far to go for the needed food for 
their starving families here. The next settlement on the Mohawk 
river below was that at Fort Plain, where they found in Isaac 
Paris a generous friend. His garners were full and he opened 
them, and from his store, freely given, the famishing settlers 
here were supplied. For that noble and generous act on his part 
his name was given to your town, and where now and until the 
final resurrection his dust will remain, and his memory be hon- 
ored and respected. 

At that early day, and when those pioneer settlers came to this 
town as we have been told to day, the territory west of Herkimer 
was almost a trackless and unbroken wilderness, and occupied 
by Indians. The settlers came here poor, but they had brave 
hearts and were a hardy people, and they were well calculated 
to subdue the wilderness and they did. To their honor be it said 
they made homes for themselves and fortunes for their posterity. 

REMARKS OF REV. DR. HARTLEY. 

After the address of Judge Earl, the Rev. Dr. Hartley, of 
Utica, was called upon, who spoke substantially as follows : 

I do not know, my friends, why I should have been summoned 
so unexpectedly to address you at this hour, unless it be that I 
an; a member of the Reformed church, with which, in early days, 
Colonel Isaac Paris was so closelv identified. As you have heard, 
I am to be the last speaker; if, therefore, it is from any convic- 
tion that the good wine has been reserved for the end of the teast, 
never were you the victims of a greater imposition. But be the 
cause what it may, the occasion which has brought us together 
to-day is of no mean significance. We have met to pay a last 
tribute of honor and respect to one whose name has long been a 
proverb in many of our homes, and which, I hope, as the years 
pass, will receive a brighter and a still brighter lustre. 

We have come to honor the brave and the bold in his country s 
interest, and one likewise none the less devoted to the weltare 
and extension of our common religion. If high heaven notes tbe 
actions of men, surely few sights can be more sublime than tiiat 
which this beautiful hill now presents— of men, women and chil- 



896 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

dren of different nationalities, of different creeds, religious and 
political, of different hopes, and from different walks in life, los- 
ing sight for the time being of all their private duties, and meet- 
ing about an open grave in the interests of virtue, valor, patriot- 
ism and practical Christianity. Republics may be ungrateful, 
but in time, benevolence, patriotism, and Christian faith receive 
full recognition. As I have thought of the services in which we 
are now engaged, I have said to myself, how true it is that history 
is constantly repeating itself. To-day some of the grandest mon- 
uments that dot the earth, and whose tapering shafts point heav- 
enward, betokening a future glory, and another life, were erected 
decades of years, and in some cases even centuries after the de- 
cease of those who sleep at their base. So here, after many, many 
years, Isaac Paris finds an honored recognition among these fa- 
miliar hills, and his remains are to sleep in yonder grave, sur- 
rounded by the fields he fought to free. Time conceals, and it 
may even dissolve the lesser virtues of our humanity, but it can 
not corrode love of country, nor can it destroy the open hand of 
charity, still less the energies and memories of an humble Chris- 
tian. A. man may be an honored patriot without any defined 
religion, but a patriot in whose soul pure and undefiled religion 
dwells, and which is constantly filling it with its holy incense, as 
was the inner temple of old, that is the man whom mankind 
loves, and whom every nation delights to honor. And from what 
has been said in our presence to-day, such was he about whose 
remains we are now assembled. 

Indeed, my friends, as I have been watching the scenes which 
the last hour has been unfolding, my thoughts took me beyond 
Marathon, of which Professor North spoke ; yes, far beyond the 
dark blue waters of the JEgean; in imagination. I passed away 
down into the Land of the Sun, and thought of the occasion when 
the children and the children's children, not of Isaac, but of good 
old Jacob met together to carry home the remains of the patri- 
arch, and to lay them beside the dust of Abraham and Sarah in 
the rock-hewn sepulchre at Machpelah. And I said to myself, in 
some respects, how similar ! Honored dust is precious, and our 
fathers should sleep near the homes of their children. And mem- 
ory brought to me still another scene. Some years ago had you 
and I been strolling through one of the southern counties of our 
State, on a certain day, we might have seen the few friends of a 
patriot gathering up his crumbled form, and having placed it in 
a box, sending it across the waves of the broad Atlantic. Yes; 
and had we followed the same, we would have witnessed its sur- 
render to a certain English lord; had we followed it still further, 
we would have seen it entrusted to a servant— till now, we are 
assured, no one can say— here, there— lie the remains of Thomas 
Paine. How true it is, may I say again, that a genuine patriot- 
ism, perfumed and tinted with pure religion, invests one with a 
glory that never will be forgotten, and rescues his dust from a 
grave which otherwise might have become unknown. As we 
recall the name of the author of the "Age of Reason" and that of 
Isaac Paris, how different their history 1 Of the one it is quite 
true "no man knoweth of his sepulchre," while of the other we 
can declare with great emphasis, his "sepulchre is with us unto 
this day." 

But without following out these impromptu thoughts, what has 
especially endeared the name of Colonel Paris to this community 
was, as we have been informed, his interest in our common Chris- 



REINTERMENT OF COL. ISAAC PARIS. g^O? 

tianity. Here, he assumed many burdens, but he carried them 
all with uncomplaining fortitude. He knew the value of an or- 
ganized faith, and labored zealously for its extension. He was 
among the first, and at an early period, the most liberal subscriber 
for the building and support of a Reformed church in this portion 
of the State. Nor should we ever forget the sufferings and dan- 
gers which, even in his time, were connected with Christianity, 
and the difficulties under which it labored for extension. To the 
credit of the early explorers of our State, as the brave and pious 
Samuel Chnraplain. be it said, missions engaged their thoughts, 
as well as the knowledge and acquisition of territory. Through 
his immediate instrumentality the Indians to the north and west 
of us came to know the Christian religion, and to covet its 
instructions. But the same cruelties which the soldier met in 
this valley, the missionary also was called upon to bear. In fact, 
such were the dangers and the severities practiced that this very 
part of our State came to be known as the " Mission of the Mar- 
tyrs," from the number of missionaries slain in the prosecution 
of their work. Hear good old Father Joques, as he bids his asso- 
ciates farewell to begin a tour from the valley of Onondaga, 
through the very fields nigh unto us: " Ibo, nee redibo:" I shall 
go but shall not return. Nor did he; as he was about entering a 
certain wigwam, a chief cleft him with an axe, and after decapi- 
tating him, impaled his body on a stump, to be thrown in a few 
days into the murmuring waters of the Mohawk. On the east 
our own Mogapolensis labored with similar devotion; and in the 
end, after united labors, Reformed churches were founded in 
Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery, and in Stone Arabia, to 
which church the lamented Paris belonged, as early as 1740. 

But, my friends, I cannot say to you what I would. Long may 
the memories of this day survive. Be faithful to your traditions, 
and imitate those who have gone before you, so long as they imi- 
tate Him who spake never as man spake, and who went about 
doing good. Gather up your history, and see that it is preserved ; 
and may God grant that you may all so live, that in future years 
your children may speak as well of you as you speak to day of 
him whom we are now to commit, amid the sweet strains of mar- 
tial music, to his final rest. 

The procession marched from the church around the green, 
and returned to the burying ground in rear of the church, 
where a hollow square was formed about the grave, the Corps 
standing at present arms. Rev. Dr. Isaac S. Hartley said the 
burial service. The remains were then lowered, the band 
playing a dirge. 

Irving Paris, of New York, spoke briefly, thanking those 
present for the respect shown to the deceased and for the 
beautiful tribute paid to his memory. The family was pleased 
to have the remains sent here among his friends. He congrat- 
ulated the people of Paris on the prosperity of their town. 
He hoped their example would be followed. 

A deputation of the Citizens Corps fired three volleys over 



398 HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PARIS. 

the grave. The procession then formed again and marched 
to the village green, where the Corps formed in line. Lieu- 
tenant McQuade, acting as adjutant, read the following gen- 
eral order : 

I. The marshal commanding desires to express to the Utica 
Citizens Corps the thanks of the citizens of the town of Paris, 
Kirkland and Marshall for their attendance and the kind and 
noble part taken by them in the memorial services of the day. 
And the marshal expressly desires to express to the officers and 
privates alike his appi-eciation of their courtesy and soldierly con- 
duct and bearing throughout the day. 

Pai-is, October 1, 1880. I. L. Addington, Marshal. 

The parade was then dismissed, and the members of the 
Citizens Corps and other visitors were soon on their way 
homeward. 



( 



! 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
CHAPTER I. 

Errors made by previous Historians corrected <j 

CHAPTER H. 

The First Settler in the Sauquoit Valley. A Black Slave's Early 

Home II 

CHAPTER HI. 
Southern Paris. The Great Water-shed of the State. A View of the 

Country. The Coal Fields. Disappearing Forests 14 

CHAPTER IV. 
Town of Paris as first formed from Whitestown. Isaac Paris. The 

first Town-meeting. The present town of Paris. First Settlers. . 21 

CHAPTER V. 

Town of Paris. Population and products. Votes for Governor. 

Members of Assembly from Paris. Supervisors of the town 25 

CHAPTER VI. 
Paris Hill, (P. O. Paris.) The first settlement in the Town of Paris. 
Early History. Pioneers and First Settlers. Major Royce, Colo- 
nel Tuttle, Eli Moore, Henry Addington Darius Scovill, Salmon 
Hecox, Martin Porter, Simmons brothers, Stephen Barrett, Fobes 
and Jonathan Head, Henry McNeil, Samuel Stiles, Captain Uri 
Doolittle, Captain Seymour, Jesse Thomson, William Babbitt 
Doctors Hull, Sampson and Judd, Seih Smith, John Wicks and 
many others. A Bear Hunt. The great Wolf Hunt. Another 
wild animal killed on Beaver creek. St. Paul's Church (Episcopal,) 
Organization and Early History of. Memorial Inscriptions, Obitu- 
aries from the Press. Paris Religious Society, (Congregational,) 
Early History. Rev. Eliphalet Steele. Good Templars, Paris 
Lodge. Early Recollections of Paris Hill, by Hon. Lorenzo Rouse, 30 

CHAPTER VII. 
Three young Paris Pioneers. Asa Shepard, John and Sylvester Butler, 
Lemuel Shepard, George Macomber and others. A Bear Hunt. 
The Butlers. Historical Tree. Present owners of Farms in the 
town <jO 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Settling Sauquoit. Theodore Gilbert, the Valley Pioneer. The Gil- 
berts and Marshes. Killing a Panther. Charcoal burning. A 
Wolf Hunt. The Cemetery 68 

CHAPTER IX. 
Glen and Lake. Some of the Curious Formations in Oneida County. 
Cascades and Moss-covered Lakes. How Indians travel. How 
Deacon Simeon Coe built on the Hill-top. The old Indian Trail.. 80 

CHAPTER X. 
Ba.Kter Gage. The champion Chopper of the Sauquoit Valley. A Rem- 
iniscence of a Sturdy Pioneer 9° 



II. CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHAPTER XI. 

Captain Abner Bacon and Hon. David Ostrom. Revolutionary Sol- 
diers and Pioneers of West Sauquoit. Bacon Genealogy 96 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Lieutenant Spencer Briggs. One of the Pioneers of East Sauquoit liv- 
ing in the Valley when it was a dense Wilderness. Desperate en- 
counters with Bears and Panthers .... 105 

CHAPTER Xni. 

Sauquoit the second Settlement in the town of Paris. Early History. 
Anecdotes, &c. The First Store in Sauquoit. Distilleries. Old- 
time Merchants, Landlords, Manufacturers, Physicians and School- 
masters Ill 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Moses Campbell and other Pioneers. Elkanah Hewitt, Howe Nichols, 
Jonathan King, Dr. Isaac Farwell, Daniel Cloyce, John Birdseye, 
David Dunham. Anecdotes of Early Settlers. Camp Parmelee. 
Ensign Josiah Hull. Hobart Graves. Morris Maltby. Elisha 
Wetmore, a Pioneer of the Dry Lots. Hiram Gilbert and brothers. 132 

CHAPTER XV. 

History of the Methodist Church at East Sauquoit. Deed of the ground 
by Lieutenant Spencer Briggs. Laying of the corner stone by 
Father Kirtland Griffin, List of the old Members, Ministers and 
Presiding Elders. Biography of Elder Zachariah Paddock. D. D., 
and Obituaries of Rev. Isaac Foster and Samuel Wadsworth 145 

CHAPTER XVI. 

An interesting Educational Reminiscence. The Old Methodist Church. 
Detailed account of the Founding of the Sauquoit Academy thirty- 
four years ago, and its History down to the present time 154 

CHAPTER XVII. 

History of the Presbyterian Church of West Sauquoit, by Rev. B. F. 

Willoughby, the present Pastor 1(^6 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Sauquoit Valley. Masonic. Early History of the Order in the 

Sauquoit Valley. An Interesting Masonic Reminiscence. Old 

Amicable Lodge ; Federal Lodge ; Paris Lodge ; Sauquoit Lodge ; 

Amicable Lodge. Lines by Rev. Mr. Magill, 185 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Soldiers of the Revolutionary War, 1775-82. The Roll of Honor. For- 
ty-two Revolutionary Soldiers from the town of Paris. Sergeant 
Richard Risley, Ephraim Warren, Captain John Mosher, David 
Bishop, Captain John Strong, James Barnett, Ephraim Walker. 
Anecdotes and Incidents. Elijah Davis, Captain Uri Doolittle, 
'Squire Asahel Curtiss, Josiah Mosher, Kirtland Griffin, Benjamin 
Merrill, Deacon David Curtiss 214 

CHAPTER XX. 

Veterans of the War of 1812. The Roll of Honor. Four Survivors. 
Dr. L. Bishop, John King, Captain Asahel Dexter, Prof. Charles 
•A^very. Seventeen who have passed away. Muster Roll of Cap- 
tain Zachariah P. Townsend's Company. Manner of Drafting 232 



roXTKNTS. III. 

Page. 
CHAPTER XXI. 

"Boys in Blue" in the Great Rebellion of 1S61-65. The Roll of Honor. 
Record of Soldiers and Officers from town of Paris. Drafted men 
and their Substitutes. Foreign enlistments to the credit of the 
Town of Paris. Recapitulation. Saving the day at Gettysburg by 
the 140th (Monroe Co.) and the 146th (5th Oneida) Regiments. 
Sauquoit Boys to the Front. Magnificent record of the 117th (4th 
Oneida) Regiment. Distinction won by the Clayville Boys. Gen- 
eral Hiram C. Rogers. A Sauquoit Boy's Record in the Great 
Rebellion 236 

CHAPTER XXH. 

Old People of Sauquoit 256 

CHAPTER XXHI. 

Uncle Henry's Wagon Wheel 257 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Sauquoit Good Templars and Grange. Saghdaquada Lodge, No. 269, 
I. O. of G. T. Charter Members. First Worthy Chiefs. Grange 
Society, No. 415. Charter Members and others 263 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Holman City (Log City.) The Third settlement in the Town of Paris. 
Pioneers and Early Settlers. Seth Leonard Cutler, Lenthiel Eells, 
David Holman, Horace R'ce, Sampson Johnson, Tunis Le Roy, 
Inventor of the Power Drill. The Great Snow Storm. Tragedy 
near Babcock Hill 264 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Clayville (Paris Furnace.) The Fourth Settlement in the Town of Paris. 
Pioneers and Early Settlers. Mr. Hill, Thomas Spofford, Judge 
Sweeting, Deacon Joseph Howard, Mr. Scollard. Raising the 
Tavern. 'Squire Albert Barnett. Colonel Gardner Avery, a Pio- 
neer of the Sauquoit Valley, at Clayville. David J. and Sterling 
A. Millard, manufacturers of scythes and agricultural implements. 
Frederick Hoilister. The present Empire Woolen Company. 
Henry Ciay visits Clayville. The Religious Societies. St. John's 
Episcopal Church. Presbyterian Church. St. Patrick's (Catholic) 
Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church. Odd Fellows Lodge, 
No. 320. Other Secret Societies, Good Templars. Pettee Post. 
The Union School. Colonel Bentley. Josiah Booth. Samuel 
Dexter .. • 273 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Cassville (Paris Hollow.) The Fifth Settlement in the Town of Paris. 
Pioneers and Early Settlers. Amasa Burchard, Elias and Mark 
Hopkins, Eieazer Kellogg, Nathan Randall. Sion Rhodes, Monroe 
family, Budlong family, Sweet family, 'Squire Wm. Gallup, Hon. 
Justus Childs and others. The Stone Road. Josiah W. Bagg. 
George Smith. Religious Societies. History of the Baptist Church 
at Oassville, by Rev. Lansing Bailey, a former Pastor of that Church. 300 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Sauquoit Creek. Recapitulation of its Industries. Sketches of the 
Pioneer Manufacturers. Tassel Hill. Dry Brook. Green's Saw 
Mill. The Cyclone. The Green family. Burdick's Mill. Jones' 
Saw Mill. Jennings' Grist Mill. S. A. Millard's Scythe Works and 
Hoe Shop. Upper Mills of the Empire Woolen Co. The Empire 



VI. CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Mills. The Farmers' Factory. The Jenks family. Paper Mills. 
N. W. Moore. Frederic Savage. The Quaker Factory. The Foster 
family. The Franklin Factory. The Brovvnell family. David Sea- 
ton. Mould brothers' Grist Mill and Saw Mill. Messrs. L. R. Stelle 
& Sons' Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Company. The Batting Fac- 
tory. Asa Tucker. John Greenleaf. The Eagle Mills. John 
Chadwick. Daniel Blackman's Foundry. Rogers' Machine Shop. 
Oliver Rogers, Amos Rogers. Pringle's Saw Mill. Eastman's 
Wagon Shop. Woolen Factory. Hoe and Fork Works. Cotton 
Factory. McLean's Grist Mill. Knitting Factory. Capron Fac- 
tory. New York Mills. Wetmore's Grist Mill. Railroad Accident 
on the Sauquoit Creek 317 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Town of Paris. Memorial Celebration at the Re-Interment of the 
Remains of Colonel Isaac Paris, Hon. Charles W. Hutchinson's 
Address. Hon. Lorenzo Rouse's Address. Address by Prof. Ed- 
ward North. Hon. Theodore W. Dwight's Address. Remarks by 
Rev. Dr. Hartley. Remarks by Hon. W. J. Bacon. Irving Paris' 
Remarks at the Grave, 378 



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